By Disappointment Only
by fireinyournewshoes
Summary: We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours. [SasuSaku] [AU] [College]
1. I - Sigh

**A/N: Oh hello lovely readers. So this is a Sasuke/Sakura fanfiction, the first one I've written in years. The tumblr tag for this pairing has renewed my love for them. They've always been my OTP, I just lacked the inspiration to write about them. But not anymore! Each chapter will have a quote underneath the title & description hinting about a theme that's evident in that portion of the story. This is mainly a set up chapter, nothing too exciting, a tad clichéd. Their school time is that of Japan, starting in the spring, breaks in between terms, etc. Things will get interesting, that I can guarantee. Anyways, enjoy!**

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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_Chapter I_

"_The drama of life begins with a wail & ends with a sigh."_

_- Minna Antrim_

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**_Not having_**to wake up until noon was hardly a blessing Sakura Haruno was familiar with. Yet by some odd streak of dumb luck her boss had been generous enough to give her this Monday morning off. With her being a full time waitress it was a generally rare absolution that happened only once on the rarest occasions. Of course she had asked old man Sozo for the hours denoting that she wasn't by any means being forced to work as much as she did. Conclusively she had to dedicate to such a chaotic schedule in order to afford her living expenses and text books for university. Today, however, she was solely pleased that the old man had given her the time off she had actually requested for a change. Inwardly she wondered if it was due to the fact that it was her first day at the city's main university; or potentially because he knew she had been anticipating this day since she had received her letter of confirmed enrollment six months ago. Whatever the logic behind this glorious occurrence, the pink haired 18 year old was infinitely thankful; if only for the reason that she got to sleep in.

The perks of living in the modern age and being gifted with a full ride scholarship were chiefly that she got to arrange her schedule to fit her less than mundane life. Albeit being a nursing major contrived this into being nothing short of an arduous task. The term by term schedule for every student alternated in an A/B pattern. On this Monday it was categorized '_A_', where she had her first class, Advanced Psychiatric Health followed by Applied Neural Science. Considering both were advanced classes by three years they were the only two required. As for day '_B_', she would attend her two elective classes in the late morning; Creative Writing and Photography 2b. On later into the afternoon she would then attend her predictably most difficult classes; Principles and Applications of Nursing Technology and Emergency Nursing 2a. The rest of her courses were as follows: the Science and Practice of Nursing the Neonate, Physiological/Pathophysiological Basis for Advance Nursing Practice 1a and Clinical Pharmacology. However indifferently they were all online courses, requiring hands on per term finals & analysis tests. The point of which determined if the enrolled students would be allowed to continue the classes under their scholarship, or be charged for it. Her plate was full, to put it lightly, nevertheless Sakura was eager to start studying what she had craving endlessly since her early teens. As far as work went, on days she had her '_A_' schedule she would clock in early morning, occasionally coming back for a split shift. On days she had her '_B_' schedule she would head over to the restaurant after a full day of class, occasionally closing if need be. Saturdays she routinely worked a double, nine am to nine pm. Sundays she would occasionally have off, if not only a short shift of noon to six. Her schedule wasn't set in stone and sometimes old man Sozo was generous in alternating her hours; a simple act she had grown to appreciate greatly. One thing she did know was that this would most likely be the last week day she'd get to laze around on, indefinitely the over worked teenager slept in as long as she possibly could.

Sakura laid sprawled out atop her bed in a sort of daze for several minutes. Her alarm went off while she surveyed the undecorated light bulb sitting in the middle of her bedroom ceiling. She pondered how she could make the stray light bulb less… well, stray, and borish. Maybe a glass cover? Her mind mulled over several things she could attempt on her next day off. Again her phone chimed after having the snooze button hit ten minutes prior. Retaining the numbers on the lock screen she ascertained that it was at last time to get ready for her first day of college. The pinkette slowly ambled over to her conjoining bathroom with a frown. Flicking on the light, she scanned over the backwards reflection of her white t-shirt that read, quite ironically mind you, '_**don't ask me about university**_' in black bold letters. A gift from her old friend Ino when she was stressing over her final exams and college applications. A moment she felt like had just taken place yesterday. The humor in it was that Sakura would literally lose her mind at any mention of university, brewing into a joke between the two of them. Still, here she was; within an hour and a half of attending her first class. Growing up was crazy like that she deduced with a sigh. One minute you're one step on the way to uni with tests and resumes; then you blink and don't know where the hell you are until you're already so far gone. No turning back.

Silently she grimaced at her roseate locks as she let them down from their tie, allowing to fall loosely past her shoulders. Sakura had abruptly cut off her hair at the end of their eighth grade year and kept it so due to ease of care. Consequently, working constantly and having a dozen different utility bills had left her hair being the last thing on her mind. Within a year since her last cut it had grown now passed the middle of her back. Whether she would be able to get it cut soon or not would be entirely dependent on how well she did with tips this next month. With an elongated sigh she stripped off her pajamas and stumbled into the shower.

It was an odd, almost freakish feeling getting ready for class without a uniform. Sakura experienced a feeling much akin to going out on the weekends while picking out her own clothes for the day. She had hated uniforms during her years in public school; though now that she was entirely indecisive of what to wear, she almost wished they still required them at university. Certainly they didn't, and with that she expelled another cloud of air that might as well of collapsed her lungs; running her fingers through her wet hair as her mind calculated. Minutes fell off the clock as she settled on a black, medium length skirt. No pleats although it fell as such to almost appear subtly otherwise. With it she paired a light fabric, cream colored, long sleeved shirt with a cat in sunglasses on the front. Her shoes matched the shade of the shirt in a pair of lace up, oxford style flats with a set of long, loose white socks. She flicked on a layer of makeup quick, swiped a shade of light blush on her cheeks and a coat of mascara. Sakura dried her hair for only a moment before pulling it up into a bun, slipping a pair of black framed glasses up the bridge of her nose. Pulling on a bulky hemp bracelet onto her right wrist, prior property of Mebuki, she at long last grabbed her bag. Quickly she realized she was running more than a few minutes late, staring at herself in the mirror one more time before bolting out the door.

Sakura pulled out her phone from her bag, rummaging through it upon standing idly in the car of the train as it lulled through miles of dimlit tunnels.

'**Naruto Uzumaki**

_I survived my first class, surprisingly. The pervert's my natural history teacher go figure. He's already on me giving me essays out the ass, so I'm officially recruiting your help. Ichiraku later? Don't die today please because I need you to help me with my homework_.'

She smiled at the text that lingered in a blue bubble on her lock screen; care of the idiot she dared call her closest friend, Naruto. She was releived to hear he didn't spontaneously combust in his first college class. Apart Sakura he was instead attending a community college not far from where they had grown up. It was humorous though, Jiraiya, or the pervert, was his teacher. That was some kind of bad karma. She giggled.

'_I guess that's what you get for being such a jerk to him when he was your homeroom teacher in middle school. I promise I won't die if you promise not to lash out or piss anyone off today. My only day off this week so yes, Ichiraku later._'

Her message sent in a blue bubble. Accordingly three grey dots appeared at the bottom of their conversation indicating that the blonde was typing back.

'_Uh, too late on the pissing anyone off part… but I won't do anything too horrendous I guess._' The message was accompanied by a mischievous looking yellow emoticon.

'_You're in class, stop texting_.' She replied.

'_Hypocrite_.' He answered with another smiley, this one irritated.

'_False, I'm on a train, idiot._' She complemented the text with a winking emoticon.

'_Whatever, get to class slacker._'

In a perfectly timed fashion the train finally came to a stop.

Putting her phone away swiftly Sakura meandered through the crowd out of the train and up the underground stairs. When she emerged she was merely two blocks away from the university, finding herself now in the student housing portion of the campus. Quickly she hurried in the school's direction, holding her floral tote at her side to stop it from bouncing against her hip with every stride.

It took her only a moment to arrive at the colossal building she would be attending for the next few months before summer break. She would've stared in awe if it weren't for her having already been there a good several times for orientation and several schedule fixes. She continued to hurry in the direction of the building to the left where she knew her first class was being held. Advanced Psychiatric Health, or simply put, 'Psychology' or 'Psych Health', was coincidentally taught by Inoichi Yamanaka, Ino's father. He was the one who had persuaded the university board into allowing Sakura, a freshman, to take the course which was required of junior med students and an elective for fourth year seniors. It was unheard of for a freshman to be allowed in. It came down to the perks of knowing people in all the right places. However in her mindset it wasn't just that. She was more than confident that she would ace the class no problem; regardless of her history with Inoichi.

Sakura climbed the stairs of the health building rapidly, occasionally stopping to pull her skirt down in the back. The psychology room was the first door on the left of the top floor hallway. She paused before it, catching her breath and glancing at her lock screen for the time. She had three minutes to spare exactly. Perfect. She opened the door nonchalantly, not wanting to seem rushed or worried about being late. Immediately her eyes fell upon Inoichi with his dark green irises. He quietly sat on his desk at the front of the class, observing the students as they conversed before he called them to session. She bowed politely.

"Good afternoon, Professor," she greeted with a thin smile.

"Ah, Sakura, great timing. I'm looking forward to having you in this class!" He exclaimed with a cheeky grin. She nodded lightly.

"And I'm looking forward to being your pupil." She grinned, proceeding to turn towards the right and find her seat. Unfortunately almost every one had been taken except for a few in the back. Sakura sighed almost immediately. Her breath suddenly hitched in her throat, making eye contact with a set of dark pupils she hadn't seen for almost four years. She gasped out loud, her thoughts running askew and her tongue going numb. She could feel her blood boiling as her face tinged red.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Inoichi asked, staring at her with worry. She gulped, trying to gather he composure and not to look anymore crazed than she already did.

"I-I'm feeling nauseous, I'll be right back," in a split second she was out of the room, not wanting to be in his presence for another moment. Obnoxiously Sakura careened down the locker decorated hallway, mentally thankful that it was completely empty.

Her bun continued to come looser and looser in its tie as she aimed towards the bathroom. Plopping down in a stall and hanging her tote on the door she whipped her phone from its outside pocket, speed dialing one of her emergency contacts.

"Sakura, I'm in class!" Naruto's raspy, hushed voice answered on the other end.

"What the _hell_ is he doing here?!" She yelled, ignoring the fact there was someone in the stall just to the left of her.

"What, who's he?" He questioned, "Professor Pervert I'll be right back." The blond spoke to his teacher, hearing the sound of a door closing she assumed behind him.

"Use your brain for once, Naruto, who else could I be talking about?!" Sakura barked into the lower part of her phone. A momentary pause followed.

"No, you have got to be shitting me!" He shouted, finally.

"I shit you not Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha is sitting emotionless in my Advanced Psych class as we speak!" She exclaimed, her voice now shaking and beginning to sound desperate.

"Well hell, that explains running into him a few blocks down from the university back then," he mumbled to himself, probably not for Sakura to hear. Yet she did; and a pencil could have dropped.

"_What_?" She growled.

"Uh, I ran into Sasuke two years ago at Ichiraku's a few blocks down… but he was a prick and I tried to fight him so… I didn't really want to tell you," he explained innocently, not a clue in the world.

"_What?_" She echoed lowly.

"Jeez Sakura, turn your volume up, I said I ran into Sasuke two years ago-" Naruto began again.

"_I heard what you said_!" She shrieked interrupting him.

"Wait, are you mad..?" He drawled. She choked out an unhealthy laugh.

"Oh, no, Naruto. Why would I be mad, that you ran into our ex best friend, who left us without a good bye four years ago, who somehow came back to the country, who you almost fought, yet you never mentioned a word to me about it? Leading me to believe he was still overseas and never coming back? Why would I be mad about that?" Sakura spoke lowly, her words thick with sarcasm.

"Why do I have the feeling you're not being serious..?" He laughed nervously.

"So much for being a good friend." With a touch of the screen she hung up.

The 18 year old's mood had gone from sad and nervous to angry and vengeful in a matter of seconds. Stampeding out of the bathroom she lumbered up the hall and back to class, determined not to let Sasuke know he had gotten to her. That piece of shit didn't deserve her heart ache, not anymore. He had been back in the country, no, in the city, for two years and had made no effort to contact her? Well, actions spoke louder than words.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Inoichi asked upon her walking back into class, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"Yeah, I'm just getting over a bad bug, got light headed for a second," the pink haired girl smiled innocently as if nothing was wrong. He was a psychologist, yet entirely fooled. So he led on, anyway.

"Right, well if you need to leave again that's fine. Don't want you getting sick in class. Now take your seat." He added, motioning to the other students. She looked to the class so she could do as told, only to find the single vacant seat behind the object of her anger. Of course. So ironic. So clichéd. Naruto wasn't the only one with bad karma today.

"Aw Sakura, I'm surprised you're not all googly eyed over your precious Sasuke," Kiba, a boy with red face tattoos she'd known since elementary school, mocked from the next row of desks. He was in their class all through high school and knew well of Sakura's childhood into middle school crush on the Uchiha prodigy. She scowled, but said nothing. "Oh, giving him the silent treatment ay? Playing hard to get?" That jerk. She wanted so badly to coldcock him. But no, she'd get expelled because it wasn't '_socially acceptable'_. Damn bull shit school rules.

Sasuke, slightly older than her by a year, watched her curiously to see firsthand if Kiba's accusations were correct. He had seen her face upon walking in the classroom. Was she just shocked? No, that couldn't be. She would be crying on his shoulder any time now, just like the day that he left. She brushed passed him on the way to the desk just behind him.

"Hello," she nodded subtly, no eye contact, and plopped down in the seat behind him.

Nothing happened.

A nervous hello.

A hurried look.

Um_, what?_

At this point even Kiba didn't know what to say. She had been visibly upset only minutes before; that couldn't have changed. She was masking it. She had to be. Or was it really just surprise that had spread across her face in that very instant? He was at a loss, casting his onyx eyes downward onto the white keyboard of his computer. Inoichi went on to an introduction to the class, discussing what would account for percentages of their final grades and the term syllabus.

"Um, Professor?" Sakura questioned, slightly raising her dainty hand. "Just out of curiosity, you said yourself this was a junior and senior class only. I myself had to get special permission from the board. So why is it that two of my middle school colleagues, who are in my same graduating class, are here?" She asked with a slight edge in her tone. Her professor blinked as he stayed silent for a moment.

"Well, Sakura, Kiba received extra credits through courses off term and online, so he's technically a junior. As for Mr. Uchiha, he was a freshman when you guys were sophomores in high school, so he's a senior in his fourth year and about to finish his degree. Does that answer your question?" Inoichi quipped. Sakura thought for a moment.

"Yes, I do believe it does. Thank you," she finished with a nodded.

The rest of the class continued boringly as expected. Sasuke sat taking the occasional notes, typing distractingly on a spread sheet. Sakura, on the other hand, typed intensely and angrily into a word document, her pink eyebrows knitted together with annoyance. Finally the class came to a close, Inoichi dismissing the period and sending them on their way.

The coral haired girl was out of her seat and passed Sasuke before he could even put his laptop away. He sighed at this, reverting back to his own train of thought while stashing his things neatly away. Fate soon placed the raven haired 19 year old behind her, which she noticed immediately and sped up. She power walked in front of him while he strode lazily at a distance, four years older than when she had last seen him and around a good foot taller. Ultimately they found themselves on the walkway between buildings and lawns at the heart of the university campus. Sakura, after scurrying a good ten feet ahead, growled to herself, stopping, and turning around to face Sasuke. He stopped as well, blinking down at her.

"Alright, I am not holding my tongue this time," she began, one hand balled in a fist at her side and the other pointing an accusing finger. "I can't believe that you, and Naruto of all people, had the audacity to keep something like this from me for two god damn years!" She shouted.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Sasuke questioned, whole heartedly confused.

"Your little meet up two years ago? That you were back in the city? That you were going to college ten minutes from where we all _grew up_? Oh yeah, let's just not tell Sakura to avoid any unnecessary trouble!" She spat, turning her back to him and melodramatically throwing her arms in the air. "Some friends you assholes are." With that she marched away. Sasuke stood in an ignorant stupor. What the hell had just happened? After a moment he shook himself back to reality. Upon drawing his phone from his pocket he quickly speed dialed a phone number.

"Deidara, yeah, can you find a number for me?" He spoke to the person who picked up the other line. A pause. "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha prefecture, Japan," followed by another. "Yeah, just text it to me when you find it. As soon as possible, it's important." Sasuke ended the call abscent-mindedly. Swiftly he strolled over to the café down the street; the same place him and Naruto had met two years back. Sighing to himself he ordered a double shot of espresso, handed to him only moments later by a red headed woman. Sasuke's phone buzzed loudly right before he was about to take a swig. With a few touches on his screen, he dialed the number he had received by text, waiting impatiently for an answer.

"Hey professor pervert, how about you leave me alone? I'm done with school for the day, I'm on my own time now!" Naruto's voice answered immediately, rudely shouting at him.

"Uh, wrong person," Sasuke replied for lack of a better answer.

"What? Who is this then?" Naruto asked.

"Who do you think it is, idiot?" Sasuke griped. The blonde immediately gasped.

"How the _hell _did you get my number you worthless bastard?" He growled harshly.

"I've got friends in low places." The business major scoffed.

"Chyeah, doesn't surprise me. Wait, why the hell are you calling me?" Naruto questioned, finally realizing how odd this occurence was.

"Take a wild guess, dumbass," Sasuke grunted. It took a moment, but the blonde eventually put two and two together.

"Shit, Sakura. Oh no, what'd she do?" He groaned.

"Well, she just basically chewed me out for the both of us being shitty friends for not telling her about the incident at Ichiraku's two years ago," he explained in his usual monotone.

"She really is pissed then…" Naruto sighed.

"Yeah of course she is." He quipped.

"Well it's all your fault you prick! Leaving without an explanation to either of us, at least I was there for her!" He started to argue.

"Okay we are not having this argument right now, the fact of the matter is I have class with her every other day for the next two terms so, I don't want her making things inconvenient. You got me? So fix it." The Uchiha ordered hastily.

"Um no. If you want anything to be done at all you're going with me to talk to her. You were the catalyst for this whole bull shit scenario anyway!" Naruto shouted.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Sasuke asked with evident irritation. The situation was getting increasingly annoying by the second.

"You were the one who left. You were the one who never contacted us. You were the one who came back. I simply didn't tell her something. You're the guilty party at fault here. If she's going to believe even a single word I say you have to be there so she thinks it's genuine." Naruto lamented.

"God damn it, fine. Do we just show up to her house or-" Sasuke began.

"No you psycho, that's much too personal, especially for you. I'll call Hinata and tell her to invite Sakura to the café. We'll meet and talk there. Be there at four." The line went dead without another word. Sasuke sighed, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. He had a sinking feeling this was going to be much more trouble than it was worth.

An hour creeped by, Sasuke taking the extra down time to go meet with his Business Economics professor in time to be back at Ichiraku's. Naruto sat sheepishly in one of the corner booths sipping at a bowl of ramen. He said nothing, entranced with his meal. Sasuke took a seat across from him.

"So how do we go about this?" He asked coolly. Naruto started to laugh, chocking on his noodles.

"You don't do a thing. You sit and look pretty, I do the talking," the blonde corrected.

"What why?" He guffawed. It was usually the other way around. Let Naruto do all the talking? Was he joking?

"You don't know a single thing about her or how she's going to react, I do. You'll only make things worse, like you already have. Plus you're not much of a talker, anyway. You kind of suck at it actually," Naruto chuckled under his breath, crossing his arms and leaning back into the seat of the booth. All Sasuke could muster was a poisonous glare. He was great at talking, actually. Just not to stupid people or anyone who wasted his time. "Oh, there's Hinata!" Naruto whispered urgently, ducking down behind the table in a feable attempt to hide. Sasuke just sat, studying the light eyed girl with long purple hair as she strode in anxiously. Behind her followed Sakura, the object of this little meeting. She was evidently still stressed but grinning all the same. Hinata noticed Sasuke immediately, trying to act as if she didn't. Naruto stood up, catching Sakura's attention. Her grassy eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh _hell_ no, I am not playing this game," she waved her hands in the air and turned around, Naruto grabbing her forearm just in time.

"Sakura, just hear me out, please," Naruto begged earnestly in a surprisingly genuine tone. She eyeballed him suspiciously.

"I definitely can't trust you, so what makes you think I'd hear you out?" She hissed.

"I think that you know we've been through rough patches before," Naruto's cerulean eyes redirected their attention to the ground, "and I think you remeber the times I've been there for you override the times I've screwed up." She looked at him with surprise, entirely shocked that Naruto had stated a very good point. Sakura sighed, one of the few things she knew she was incredulously good at.

"Fine, but this isn't going to be a quick fix," she stated, taking a seat in the booth closest to the wall and across from Sasuke. He gazed at her curiously, taking note of how much she had changed since he had left Japan almost four years ago. Her hair was now long, put up in a messy bun which he had never seen her attempt before. Even when her hair was long in middle school she always kept it down. She was also a good amount… thicker. She had been a gangly little girl this time ago their freshmen year. However now she had hips, although played down by the bagginess of her shirt. Her thighs were rounder and more muscular, her chest full. Their old home room teacher had always reassured her she was a late bloomer, and it was much to his shock that he had been right. Sasuke had always assumed she would simply be one of those thin, boy figured girls. Guess not.

Sakura glared at him, catching his line of site. Immediately he looked down, trying not to let any color seep to his face and reveal just what he was staring at.

"So, Uzumaki, plead your case," she ordered, leaning back into the leather seat and crossing her arms over her chest. Naruto suspired as he closed his eyes momentarily, sitting just to the right of Sasuke.

"When I ran into Sasuke two years ago it was entirely by accident," he began, folding his hands together atop the wooden table, "and I was so angry all I could do was cuss at him and try and beat the shit out of him. I got kicked out, we literally didn't talk. So I didn't know why he was here, where he went or where he was going."

"What does that have to with anything? Just because you didn't have an in depth conversation with him doesn't mean it wasn't important!" She argued.

"I know, and I'm not saying it was okay. But," his face read of pure anxiety, "You were still getting over the whole ordeal at that point. And you were doing so much better compared to the first year after everything, and I didn't want to see you going back to being that sad girl again. You were happy and I didn't want to ruin that, especially since he had made no effort to get ahold of you when he was here." His gaze shifted to Sasuke. His expression had changed from that of boredom to curiosity. Had she really been that stressed after he left? Sakura sat in silence. It took a good moment until she spoke again. Her hands were now folded nervously in her lap, emerald eyes fixating on a black and white picture decorating the wall.

"I guess… I guess that makes sense," she stammered, looking down, "but that doesn't excuse both of you lying to me." Naruto nodded.

"No of course not. I just wanted to convey to you that my intent wasn't malicious at all, I simply wanted to protect you from getting hurt by this asshole again," he went on to lament. Since when had this idiot known such big words? Sasuke was bewildered. "Well, I'm going to go grab a bowl of ramen, I'll be right back." He added, quickly exiting the booth. Sakura rested her elbows on the table, grabbing her phone from her bag and fiddling around with it. Sasuke felt increasingly awkward while the coral haired girl looked entirely bored.

"So, Sakura," he spoke, trying to break the silence. She surveyed him curiously with her eyebrows raised for a quick second, focusing back on the object in her hands. Rarely did Sasuke Uchiha ever start a conversation. "What are you majoring in?" He asked. She looked back up from her phone with an annoyed expression.

"I'm majoring in self-pity with a double minor in procrastination and crying, of course," she replied in a matter of fact tone. His jaw dropped, having no words to match his internal level of shock. Sakura broke into laughter, phone still in her hands. "It's a joke, Sasuke. Those were things you used to make fun of me for in middle school, I thought you'd find it humorous." She explained, leering and flashing her perfect rows of teeth. He said nothing as he gaped at her. Sasuke was surprised that not only had she tried to joke with him, but she was joking about personal attributes she had once been so self-conscious of. What a weird sense of humor…

"Hope you guys didn't have too much fun without me," Naruto announced sarcastically as he took his seat next to the raven haired 19 year old. In his head he was still very confused by Sakura's attitude.

"Oh, yeah, because you know Sasuke's just the biggest ball of fun," she rolled her eyes. This caused him to frown. Sorry he didn't think of everything as a joke like they did. It was just a reminder to him why they were freshmen and he was a senior. He had his priorities straight, unlike these two. Sakura abruptly stood up as soon as Naruto had started to slurp at his noodles.

"Well, I've already got some assignments to work on, and I have to email my Clinical Pharmacology teacher about some stuff, so," she started awkwardly, scooting her way out of the booth, "I'll see you two on the flip side I guess." Sauntering her way out of café before Naruto could swallow his mouthful of ramen to say goodbye. Him and Sasuke both stared at the glass door as it shut quickly behind her.

"Was it just me or was she a little eager to leave?" Sasuke drawled. Naruto swallowed his noodles with a large '_gulp_'.

"Yeah, she's got some pretty intense trust issues so, even though she forgave me it'll take her awhile to feel comfortable around me again," the blonde sighed. Sasuke snorted.

"Sakura Haruno? Trust issues?" He chuckled lowly under his breath. Naruto glared at him.

"Don't act like you know her you bastard, you've been gone for four years. You know better than anyone it doesn't take any longer than a day for someone's world to fall apart," he stated defensively. To that Sasuke offered no reply, simply leaving him to dwell in his own head.

Had spoiled, only child Sakura Haruno gotten a taste of how cruel reality could be?

No, that couldn't be the case. She probably just grew up, that was all. Just like everyone does.

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**A/N: Oh jesus alright, that was a mess. Thanks for reading! If you do like this or have creative criticism to offer, please send me a dm or a review would be even more appreciated. The class structures in this are based off of my experiences in college, so most likely not really how they are in Japan. But I didn't want to bull shit about something I know nothing about. Anyways, I am an English major so my goal is to improve my writing in whatever ways possible. I should have the second chapter out right away because the ideas are fresh in my head & I'm eager to get them down on paper, but I do start my fall semester of college this next Monday so, please do not hate me if updates get random. Thanks so much for reading! I really do appreciate it!**


	2. II - Leave

**A/N: Hm, in a way the title of last chapter was foreshadowing. Although unintentionally. Hohoho, go me. Enjoy guys.**

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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_Chapter II_

"_When our vice leaves us, we like to imagine it is we who are leaving them."_

_- Francois de La Rochefoucauld_

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"_**Sakura**_, table three is waiting for their subs. They're crunched for time," old man Sozo called back to the kitchen where said pink haired girl stood with a metal trey. Rapidly she loaded several foot and a half long subs on top of the metallic plate; directly from the cook.

"I'm on my way right out with them," she answered curtly. She hurried out of the kitchen, passing by the hostess and grabbing their tab with her free hand while balancing the platter with her other. Upon meandering through other tables and carefully passed other waitresses and customers she finally arrived at table three. Despite the name it was stuffed in the furthest corner of the restaurant.

"Alright guys, here's your subs to go. Can I grab you anything else? Maybe some refills on your soups before you leave?" She asked her customers politely as she gave each sub to the preferred individual. The three gentlemen were some of her regulars, coming in routinely at least a few days a week before their afternoon shifts. They particularly favoured the restaraurant's soup happy hour and and never left without picking up some of '_Sozo-Ryoku's_' signature subs for the road.

"No, but thank you Sakura, we appreciate your impeccable service as always," the older of the three men, looking to be somewhere around her father's age, smiled thankfully with a small bow.

"Oh of course Toji, you three are some of my favorite customers," she smiled at him as she fiddled around with her pony tail that had began to fall out.

"Had a busy day, Sakura?" The youngest man asked, his eyes beaming at her. She studied him confusingly.

"Um, nothing abnormal. Why do you ask?" She questioned.

"Well, sorry to be rude but, your skirts a bit… up in the back," he chuckled sheepishly; a light blush tinting his already sun burnt cheeks.

Sakura's hands flew to her behind, only to discover that he was indeed right. The skirt of her uniform had somehow become tucked in the back of her apron, giving a bit of a show of the lower portion of her light blue, silk underwear. Her face went red as she adjusted it.

"Right, thank you Kauru, it has been kind of a busy day," she laughed tiredly, admitting her defeat.

"It's fine, we've all been there," Toji laughed as he pulled out a few bills from his wallet, "have a good rest of your day Sakura. Don't work too hard, and we'll see you tomorrow I'm sure." Sakura mumbled a meek 'thank you' and bowed as they exited the booth. With a sigh she picked up the check and counted the money they left. Total: $45, they left $70. She grinned ear to ear. They had left her with more than a 50% tip. Maybe she would be able to get that haircut soon after all.

Sakura's first week at university had went by surprisingly fast. She assumed this occurence was mostly due to the fact that when she wasn't in class she was working, then when she was at home she was either rushing through homework or sleeping. At this point her downtime was virtually nonexistent. However unlike most people Sakura preferred to be constantly occupied. She detested not being productive, always providing her with a sense of uselessness. It was safe to say she was feeling the exact opposite as of late. The time read one hour and fifteen minutes passed noon. She had technically been off and headed to her last two periods of the week right at noon. Tomorrow would be Saturday and she was scheduled a double, Sunday she was off. She lacked any excitement for time off had become synonymous with homework.

"Sakura, you can't stay any longer? Not even five minutes?" Old man Sozo whined from the kitchen window. Sakura offered him a thin smile as she grabbed her bag from the coat hooks next to the hostess.

"No Sozo, I already stayed 15 minutes later than I should've, I don't even have time to change, I have to get to class," she explained, finally being able to let her hair down now that she wasn't running around the restaurant at 100 miles an hour. "I'll see you in the am!" she called while striding out the door.

Despite her perky attitude and constant smiling mostly fooling everyone, Sakura was well passed the point of exhaustion from a week of running nonstop. Sure, mentally she loved being continually busy; but her body strongly disagreed. Her legs ached like they always did after busy shifts. Her temples throbbed from her jaw muscles tensing up due to her lack of sleep. She massaged them with her index fingers while sitting quietly on the train awaiting her stop. The pinkette had been so busy she had barely paid any mind to Sasuke in class. She was truly proud of her self considering being seated right behind the Uchiha and him regularly making rude off hand comments towards her. When it came down to it she had greatly more important things to deal with aside from him and his constant moodiness.

She ascended up the short stairs that placed her onto the public streets, immediately turning the corner to mosey towards the university as she always did. As soon as she cut in that direction Sakura's head of pink hair collided with someone else's very hard chest plate. She squealed and jumped back a few feet, her skin color now a shade of deep red. Waving her hands frantically in front of her, her word vomit ensued.

"I am so, _so_ sorry! I was in such a rush and wasn't paying attention and," she stammered anxiously.

"What? Don't tell me you're already running late already when it's only your first week of school," a condescending voice mused. Sakura's expression fell immediately as all color drained from her complexion. She gazed up into a pair of cold, dark eyes, adorned by pael skin she knew all too well.

"W-What are you doing here, Sai?" She stuttered, her hands folded nervously to her chest.

"What? Is it a crime to want to surprise my girlfriend?" He cooed, leaning to kiss her on the cheek. She stepped back just in time to dodge him.

"I'm not your girlfriend," she stated, quickly trying to push passed him; but he blocked her, grabbing her arm.

"Don't be silly, Sakura, we've been dating for a year now!" He grinned. She plucked his hand from her forearm.

"Oh yeah? Is that what you call it?" She asked rhetorically, "you suddenly leaving for weeks, sometimes months at a time without not even a single text or call to me? Not even telling me when or if you're coming home? Painting and seeing multiple women at once? Is that what they classify as dating now of days?" Sai's jaw visibly tightened with his beady eyes squinting.

"You're just assuming things again, you don't even know what I was doing while I was on my trips," he argued lowly.

"You forget we have the same friends, Sai. Ino is my oldest friend. Are you actually so ignorant that you thought she wouldn't tell me what you've told her?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded by his idiocy. He stood silent for a moment, his eyes shadowed by his fringe. "I have to go now, I've got better things to do than listen to your half assed excuses," she started, trying to push passed once more. He pushed her to a hault with his cold hand.

"You're just jealous, the same you've always been," he snapped.

"Oh yeah?" She scoffed. "Oh please, Sai, enlighten me as to why I would be jealous of _you_."

"Jealous that I have places to go because I have a talent I excel at," he seethed, " just like you were jealous of Ino when you two were kids, just like you're jealous of every other person you meet. You couldn't even get into the university's pre-med program because they didn't offer you a scholarship, you only got into _nursing_. Nursing! You've always been second best. Why do you think it's so easy for people to leave you? You have no defining qualities, that's why." Not more than a second passed before Sakura's palm collided with Sai's cheek, accompanied by a loud '_smack_'. She shoved passed him successfully, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks.

He was wrong. He was a terrible person who only used people to his benefit. Yet the words, they stung. Regardless of her mental state she had to get to class. She had to get her mind off of his stupid, pale face.

Sakura traipsed into Psychology abruptly, head down so as not to let anyone see the mascara that had very clearly run down to her chin.

"Nice of you to join us, Sakura," Inoichi commented. She refused to look at him. She simply muttered a quick,

"Sorry, won't happen again," before wandering to her desk. He resumed the lesson soon after. Sasuke's eyes studied her suspiciously, noting her face when she maneuvered passed him. A sudden sense of annoyance flooded over him. Her face was clad with the same expression she had worn first thing Monday. It was the same look she had even shown when they were younger. He grunted and cleared his throat.

"So what have I managed to do to upset you now?" He jeered while she opened up her lap top. He couldn't see her reaction as he pretended to be listening to Inoichi. She didn't reply at first. He could make out the noise of her lap top clicking shut. He assumed he had simply made her so upset that she couldn't fathom a response, when in reality it was actually the exact opposite. He saw Kiba, who sat to the left of him, as his eyes widened and started to yell,  
"No, Sakura don-" before he was interrupted by the loud smash of a very, very hard object over the back of Sasuke's head. His vision went blindingly white for a second as a searing pain emanated from the back up his skull into his temples. Opening his eyes he saw double of everything as his head pulsed and throbbed. Sasuke looked up, only recognizing Sakura for the blurred pink hair he could barely see.

"Contrary to popular belief, Uchiha, my fucking life doesn't revolve around you, you incompetent, pretentious asshole!" She whaled, a quake in her voice indicating that she was crying. Not having the heart to wait another second she sprinted out of the classroom. The room was coated in a thick silence.

"Shit, I better call Hinata," Kiba grumbled as he pulled out his cell, proceeding to speed dial a number.

"W-What the hell was that all about?" Sasuke asked as while he slowly gained back his site. He rubbed the back of his head, eying his fingers and seeing blood.

"Probably something to do with Sai," he mumbled. Sasuke looked at him for more information, but the other line of Kiba's call had already picked up. "Yeah, Hinata, Sakura came into class crying. Sasuke made some rude ass comment and she broke a laptop over his head," there was a pause, "yeah that's what I was thinking. You can't leave? Oh, okay. I'll see if I can get ahold of Naruto then." With that the call ended.  
"Who the hell is Sai?" Sasuke prodded, agitated by the headache he had developed. Kiba rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair.

"Oh cut the bull shit Uchiha, you're only interested because she gave you a head wound and you want to know if it was justified or not," he quipped in annoyance.

"Not _just_ that," he argued half heartedly.

"Shut up, everyone knows you don't care about anyone's wellbeing but your own. Hell, you made it pretty clear just now." _Ouch_. Sasuke ignored Kiba's comment, focusing back on Inoichi.

"Um, professor, can I go to the nurse?" He asked with a slight raise of his hand. Their professor was still in shock over what he had just witnessed.

"Uh… yeah, that's probably a good idea," he replied, only half there.

Toddling his way into the hallway, Sasuke's real intention wasn't to go to the nurse. Picking his phone from his pocket he scrolled through his contacts, selecting Naruto's name spelled out in black letters. After a few seconds of the dial tone he picked up.

"Oi, professor pervert, why the hell did we have a sub today? You have no right to enforce strict attendance on me when you don't-" He began.

"God damn it Naruto why the hell haven't you saved my contact?" Sasuke interrupted him in anger.

"Whoa, what the hell Sasuke, how'd you get my number?!" The blonde shouted.

"Well dumb ass I got it Monday, remember? I did the normal thing and saved it in my phone. It's not a fucking magic trick," he spat.

"Whatever you bastard. Why are you calling me and wasting my time?" Naruto demanded.

"Sakura broke a laptop over my head," he stated plainly. There was a pause. After a few seconds Naruto erupted into an obnoxious fit of laughter.

"Oh my god, I have never wished I had done better in high school so badly in my life! I would've killed to see that happen! Looks like I've taught her well!" He bellowed. Sasuke scowled.

"That's not the point, idiot, she came in after she'd clearly been crying. I asked her what I had done to piss her off this time, and she attacked me, then ran out bawling. Kiba said something about it being because of some Sai guy?" He explained more in depth, still in his usual monotone. This caused Naruto to stop cackling.

"Oh hell… it was their would be anniversary this week. I just didn't think he'd actually be coming back…" He drawled.

"What? Anniversary?" Sasuke echoed, "is Sakura married?!"

"No, idiot," it was Naruto's turn to insult his intelligence, "it was their one year anniversary of seriously dating. Sakura doesn't believe in marriage." Sasuke wanted to ask what he meant by she didn't believe in marriage but that was a conversation for another day.

"So what's the problem then? That's a good thing right?" He ascertained.

"Not exactly… their relationship was weird and Sai was an ass. He was really good at putting her down," Naruto sighed, "He was in Europe for a while. I guess he came back and things went bad. I don't know, if she was crying it was probably terrible. I'll have to go see her."

"Alright, I'll meet you then," Sasuke agreed.

"Uh, no, you won't. Wait, why?" Naruto asked with bewilderment.

"Because she _broke a fucking lap top_ over my head. Excuse me for wanting to know why," Sasuke fumed, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Tch, selfish reasons as always. Should've known. But fine, meet me at the corner of West 21st and 9th." He instructed while hanging up immediately after. Sasuke was entirely aggitated by Naruto's lack of conversational etiquette, but there was nothing he could do about it. That's just how he was and always would be. Stashing his phone back in its place the raven haired nineteen year old made his way to the train station several blocks down; the same place Sakura emerged out of every afternoon.

It took mere minutes to get to the proper stop, Sasuke slightly surprised that she lived so close to the campus. Albeit it did make a good deal of sense. Lumbering out of the station he surfaced into a middle class neighborhood consisting mostly of apartment buildings. He was on West 21st and 7th, meaning he had two blocks to go until his meeting place. Easy enough.

"It's about damn time, I almost left your sorry ass," Naruto declared as soon as Sasuke was within sight.

"No you didn't," he rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, I hope you're ready for this. You're probably going to get your ass handed to you again," the blonde warned with a smirk. Sasuke ignored him knowing that the scenario was highly unlikely.

Sakura's apartment building was one of the taller, newer looking ones with a dark grey finish on the outside. The doorman let them in upon recognizing Naruto, even making quick small talk as they passed through. Heading into the hallway behind the main lobby the two college students took the elevator six floors up. After standing for a few seconds with awkwardly terrible elevator music, a high pitched '_ding_' announced them at their destination. Naruto plodded only a few doors down before stopping and knocking obnoxiously. The door where his hand met read '6f' in metallic letters.

"Go away!" Sakura's voice called from inside the apartment.

"Come on Sakura, I just wanna know if you're okay," Naruto explained as he feigned an abnormal politeness.

"I'm fine, like always. And I don't talk to two faced people! So go away!" Her muffled voice shouted back. Sasuke smirked.

"Let me try," he proclaimed, pushing Naruto out of the way. He knocked lightly.

"I said go away Naruto!" Sakura repeated angrily.

"It's not Naruto, Sakura," Sasuke announced. She snorted at his declaration.

"If you think that's going to make a difference then you two are even dafter than I thought," she responded darkly. Sasuke's smirk fell, eyebrows knitted. Naruto was smiling but kept his comments to himself for a change.

"Sakura, seriously, I wanna know why you gave Sasuke a head injury. And praise you for it. Please just let us in," he tried for the last time genuinely. There was a moment of silence. The lock on the door clicked as Naruto sighed wth relief.

"Fine, get your pathetic asses in here before you piss of my neighbors with all the racket you're making," she ordered, barely opening the door with enough space for them to squeeze in; clearly intentional. Sasuke's nostrils were invaded by smells he wasn't at all accustomed to, causing his eyes to widen as he analyzed and adjusted to them. A mix of vanilla, strawberries, and a subtle hint of laundry detergent with a side of bleach. Sakura's apartment was relatively clean, minus her shoes scattered by the door and several outfits lying on the back of a leather couch. A few makeup brushes sat oddly on a towel by the sink. The walls were a popular shade of beige, a small flat screen sitting in the corner of the living room on a fake wooden stand. A number of framed pictures decorated throughout the walls. One of Aubrey Hepburn, another of the New York City skyline and one in the kitchen of the 18 year old dressed in green scrubs with a group of roughly 20 kids. It was roomy but it was easy to tell she didn't spend a hefty amount of time there.

"For the record, I'm not apologizing," Sakura interrupted Sasuke's train of thought, bringing him back to their current ordeal. "You had it, no, you've _had_ it coming." She concluded, her face rid of emotion yet stained by makeup and dried up tears.

"I wasn't going to ask you to," he responded, hands in his pockets while appearing intentionally more bored than he actually was.

"So what did that pale asshole do to you this time?" Naruto asked getting right to the point. She sighed, her look of sadness returning.

"We can talk in my room. Sasuke, you can sit out here. I have cable so you can watch baseball or something," she announced.

"Hn," He mumbled, moving her clothes and sitting stoically on the couch. Flicking on the television he scrolled through the channels.

Sakura ushered Naruto to her room, closing and locking her white painted door behind them. What she forgot, however, was that wood wasn't in fact sound proof and there was a rather large gap between the bottom part of her door and the laminent.

"So do you want to know why I hit Sasuke first or..?" She started asking Naruto.

"Just start from the beginning, I'm sure they're all related," the blonde affirmed. It was muffled, but Sasuke managed to hear bits and pieces of their conversation depending on how loud they were. A good 30 seconds or so he couldn't make out anything until,

"…Then that prick had the nerve, after leaving me countless times, to claim me as his girlfriend! Like, seriously?" Sakura exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's screwed up considering he was in a different part of the world seeing other people…" Naruto droned. Boys naturally sucked with giving girls advice, but he was really trying.

"Exactly! Then he went on to…" she paused for a second. "No, you don't need to know anymore."

"Yes I do, Sakura, this is clearly the part when he got to you," Naruto insisted. She suspired deeply as she blinked.

"He just… you know he knows me pretty well, Naruto. Like he knows my insecurities. We've been on and off for two years then pretty steady for almost one. And he used it against me…" She began speaking lowly, barely loud enough for Sasuke to hear. "He kept… I was jealous… like with Ino… then he… everyone leaves me because I have no redeeming traits or talent… that I'm no good… why I didn't get into pre-med… because I'm mediocre." She went lamented, Sasuke only being able to catch bits and pieces. Ultimately it was more than enough for him to get the big picture. Moral of the story: this guy was a tool. And because he was a tool, Sasuke now had a head wound and Sakura was out of a laptop. _Fucker_. Naruto proceeded to offer Sakura comforting words and advice, calming her down although she was still very clearly bothered by it. A rough twenty minutes later and they finally walked back into the living room.

They studied him as he pretended to be engrossed in a baseball game.

"Well, you guys can stay here I guess…" Sakura drawled unsurely, "but I have to go to Neural Science so." She sauntered over to the kitchen sink, wetting a towel and cleaning her face of smeared make up. She appeared a lot younger without it, especially with her porcelain like skin and round emerald eyes. She grabbed her bag and searched for her keys and metro card to leave. A sudden urgle boiled within Sasuke. He didn't want her to apologize by any means, yet at the same time he deserved to give her hell for being a raging psycho. He would be the one to get the last word in, justifiably angry that she had assaulted him in the middle of clase. He stared at her, hands in his pockets with a smirk plastered on his face. Signature Sasuke.

"Sorry to break it to you Sakura, but I doubt any hospital's going to," he pasued for a second, growing slightly light headed. He must've just stood up too quick. Sakura eyed him, pink brows raised waiting for his punch line. "I doubt any hospital's going to want a nurse," he stammered, a black fuzz clouding his vision, his hands growing cold. What was happening? "Is going to… want a nurse that goes around giving people brain injuries." Sasuke finished finally, words slurred as his posture wavered. Both Naruto and Sakura gazed at him strangely.

"Uh, Sasuke, are you okay?" Naruto spoke, reading Sakura's thoughts. Ignoring the question, Sasuke smiled. In that moment the nursing student knew something had to be wrong; Sasuke Uchiha never smiled.

"I mean, that's pretty screwed up if you ask me," he laughed, pointing an accusing finger, but his elbow slouched immediately, causing his hand to fall right back to his side. More black fuzz; his legs now felt like jelly. It took only a split second for Sasuke to plow face first into the wooden floor of Sakura's living room.

"Oh holy hell Sakura! His brain hemorrhaged! You killed him!" Naruto whaled, jumping on her couch cushions as if there was a mouse running around. Sakura ignored his blatantly stupid comment, kneeling down to check his pulse. She sighed at the circumstances of the situation.

"No, he probably just has a concussion," She replied, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, "help me get him on the couch."

After a good amount of effort, the two finally succeeded in getting the knocked out cold Uchiha onto Sakura's leather love seat. She ordered Naruto around as she bandaged his head.

"Get me the bottle of disinfectant from the bathroom,"

"Grab me the box of gauze from under the sink,"

"I need a cold, wet wash cloth with a few ice cubes wrapped in it,"

"Get the circular neck pillow from my bedroom,"

An hour later, Sasuke finally opened his eyes. Naruto gasped loudly, straight out of some ridiculous melodrama.

"He lives!" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Of course he does you dimwit."

"What the hell happened..?" He asked quietly, still feeling insanely dizzy. Sakura offered him a thin smile.

"You have a concussion and, after making a terrible joke, you took a nose dive in my living room," she explained, evidently finding it completely hilarious. _Damn her._

"Is that why my forehead is screaming now too?" He prodded, putting his hand on the wet wash cloth that laid there. She nodded,

"Yup, in all honesty, you're pretty lucky you didn't break your face," she chuckled lightly. He sighed. Really, she was right.

Naruto pressed on to avidly taunt Sasuke for making himself look like a douche. Not even a moment later a knock at the door caught all of their attention. Sakura looked at both of them for an explanation.

"I don't know who it is, don't look at me," Naruto said, hands up defensively. She eyed Sasuke who simply shrugged. Hesitantly she cracked open the door.

"Oh, u-um, hi, Mr. Uchiha," Sakura stammered out, her voice trembling. Sasuke jumped to his feet immediately. For having a concussion he was behind her inhumanly fast.

"Why are you here?" He growled, all the while still holding the wash cloth to his forehead.

"Ah, so you are here," Itachi smirked from the doorway. Sasuke glared in response, awaiting an answer. "I got back from New York thinking I'd come home to see my little brother. But no, you weren't there."

"People go out and do things all the time, Itachi. It's a normal thing," Sasuke bit back.

"Yeah, but you don't have any friends, so I got worried," Itachi mocked slyly, Sasuke's glare intensifying.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much." He quipped.

"Yeah, is that why your forehead's bruised and your head's in bandages?" Itachi asked sheepishly, meriting no response, "well, as long as I know now that you're not dead in a ditch somewhere, I'll be leaving. It was nice seeing you, little Sakura." And he made stepped away, padding down the hallway towards the elevator. Sakura slowly closed the door, eyes wide with shock.

"How the hell did he find where I live?" She asked under her breath.

"We have friends in low places," Sasuke repeated the very phrase he had said to Naruto just shy of a week ago. He slowly moved back to the couch. Sakura followed behind, sitting next to him and subconsciously placing an ice pack to the back of his head.

"So what was that all about, exactly? You and Itachi always got along so well when we were younger…" Naruto pondered aloud.

"Yeah, but after the accident he assumed Dad's position in the company, so he's all about work now. He tries to treat me like his child when I see him at the flat maybe eight times a year. He has no right to have any say in my life and it pisses me off when he tries to act like that's his place," Sasuke ranted. Naruto gazed at him wildely. Rarely did he ever speak about his personal life, mainly after his parents passed away four years ago. "S-Sorry, my heads jumbled, I shouldn't have said any of that." He added quickly, wiping the cloth across his forehead and sighing. He noticed the pink hue of Sakura's hair in his peripheral vision, just then realizing she was at his side applying ice to his injury. She had been doing a few minutes. Their eyes met for a brief second, causing them both to look away while Sakura's cheeks heated up. Naruto broke out laughing.

"What're you laughing at, dumb ass?" Sasuke barked, clearly embarrassed. The blonde wiped a tear from his eye, grinning ear to ear.

"Oh nothing, I just could've sworn we were back in 7th grade. Watching you guys, it's exactly how it was back then."

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**A/N: So for those of you who get my foreshadowing reference… yes, I am the cheese master. Hahaha it was a terrible pun I know. Anyway, there's chapter two. I will respond to all of you lovelies who review! I appreciate it so greatly! This was another character development chapter, but you get to see more into the type of people they are. Like their personal relationships outside of their friendship. Oh and for the record, I do not hate Sai! At all! I just despise making of OC's, and judging how mean he is to Ino, I can totally see him being that mean to Sakura if she challenged him in anyway, which is what happened. So thus he became her mean, sorta ex boyfriend. Sorry, the reality is she was not going to wait for Sasuke, especially after four years of not even a letter or text message. Anyway, I have the main ideas for the rest of this story written out, so hopefully updates will be relatively quick but I am making no promises. Please review, & constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. They encourage me to write more if I know people are actually reading & enjoying it. Alright, thanks everyone!**


	3. III - Drink

**A/N: For the record, 'Sozo-Ryoku', Sakura's work place, means imagination in Japanese. The full name is: 'Sozo-Ryoku no Daina' or the diner of imagination. I'll try not to hint too much at what happens but… during the drinking part with Sakura I listened to 'Grow Up' by Paramore. It just came on by chance but it set the mood flawlessly.**

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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_Chapter III_

"_Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."_

_- Hernest Hemingway_

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_**"I don't **_understand the point of a split shift," Sasuke grumbled as he scanned irritatingly over the menu.

"It's because the days Sakura only has two classes she can't work a double like she did during break, so she comes back immediately after to get more hours & good tips from the dinner rush," Naruto replied matter of factly as he toyed around with a salt shaker.

"Still, it's tedious." He stated, taking note of the fact that the menu was several pages instead of the customary one or two.

"What're you guys doing here?" Sakura sighed as she shambled up to their table, miniature notebook in hand.

"Is it a crime for me & Sasuke to wanna grab a few subs before our super hard core study sesh?" Naruto cooed cheekily, teeth gleaming. She rolled her eyes.

"The amount of times you two come visit me at work is starting to worry old man Sozo, he asked today if you guys were stalking me," the pink haired girl joked, leaning her weight onto the wooden corner of the booth. Sasuke frowned.

"Is it so odd for us to come see you at work, especially when I need a break from Naruto's annoying presence?" He denounced coldly.

"Plus we can't pass up free food!" Naruto grinned, ignoring Sasuke's dig at his persona.

"Fine, what do you guys want?" She asked with a heafty amount of agitation.

"Wait, Sakura, do the thing," the blonde beamed. Sasuke rolled his eyes,

"no idiot she doesn't have to do that for us."

"She does, or I'm going to leave a very nasty anonymous review on your guy's website," he proclaimed. Sakura's face was beet red, fists balled at her sides. She hated him for making her do this. So much. After a moment she let out an exasperated sigh, succumbing to her defeat.

"Hold your breath," she began, sticking one arm to the left, "make a wish," the other to the right, "count to three," she held them both in front of her. "Come with me," she sang with a forced cheer as she blushed from the humility, "and you'll be in a world of pure imagination," as she twirled in a circle. "Welcome to _Sozo-Ryoku no Daina, _Konoha prefecture's premier Western cuisine restaurant. We specialize in any combination you can imagine for sandwiches, burgers, and soup or dumplings. May I take your order?" She asked politely through gritted teeth. Naruto clapped loudly, very satisfied.

"You're a real ass, you know that?" Sasuke hissed. He ignored him.

"Yes you may, valued waitress, may we get two turkey, foot and a half subs with provolone and banana peppers to go?" He snickered. Their usual.

"I'll have that right out," she answered, beginning to walk away.

"Wait, you're not gonna write it down?" Naruto whined. Sakura glared at him deeply on the verge of kicking him out. If looks could kill. "Kidding, kidding," he added nervously. She left to put in their order and tend to her other tables. Sasuke said nothing. "Come on Sasuke, you gotta admit it's funny!" He bellowed.

"You're a truly premature piece," He sighed, eyes attentive on the ceiling with his arms folded over his chest. Naruto continued to laugh.

A good month and a half had passed since Sakura had crushed her laptop over Sasuke's head. It was rather unconventional but, for whatever reason it had been a catalyst of sorts that had led to the three of them getting together regularly. Slowly but surely they were in the process of salvaging some very broken bonds. It started with Sakura needing to borrow Sasuke's computer to put together a powerpoint for class, soon leading to studying for tests together and as of recent alternating helping tutor Naruto. By that odd set of events they were all together almost daily, beneficially lessening their workloads when it came to school. Although it had been greatly more than that, it was never a subject of discussion. Their bonding was still in its substantially early stages and they weren't about to let the beating of a dead horse ruin something good.

Sasuke and Naruto happened to find themselves on the eve of another Friday, almost passed the middle term mark into June and waiting for Sakura to get off at eight. Naruto desperately needed his friend's help for his Intro to Muscular Health class while Sasuke had put together a cram sheet of sorts for them to go over in preparation for their test on Monday. Sakura brought them their subs without a word along with two small drinks. They sipped at them boringly, waiting the fifteen minutes until her shift was scheduled to end. Sasuke's eyes followed her from table to table, bouncing around from one to the another in her mostly black, almost maid style uniform. Even from a distance it was blatantly obvious that customers adored her. She brought out their orders quickly, kept their beverages full, and was a cute girl with an amazing smile. It was really no shock to him that Sozo scheduled her so much; she was clearly a very important asset.

"Alright, are you two ready?" Her voice interrupted Sasuke's thoughts. She stood in front of their table zipping up her jacket and stashing her apron in her bag.

"Jeez, finally," Naruto sighed over dramatically. Sakura ignored his comment, turning to walk away as they followed suit. She passed by the hostess quickly to pick up her electronically paid tips and they were out of the diner soon after.

"So, Sasuke, are we going to your place tonight like you promised?" She chirped, cheekily smiling at his side. His attention diverted upwards.

"I just don't understand why we can't go to one of your guy's apartments like normal," he whined.

"Because it's boring! We do that every day! And it's unfair that we haven't been to your flat yet, especially since Itachi's overseas!" Naruto exclaimed while pouting like a child. They were right. He really hated his flat. Despite beintg aesthetically pleasing and huge in comparison to their apartments, it offered no charisma. It felt more like a hotel than anything. Sasuke huffed and took the lead.

They landed themselves on the train as per usual; only in the exact opposite direction of where they would to Sakura's. It was a longer trip as well, taking about 15 minutes. Naruto predictably complained and whined almost every two minutes,

"Are we there yet?"

"Why not?"

"This is boring!"

"Better be worth the wait you bastard!"

Until they finally got off at their stop and he couldn't stop talking about how excited he was. Typical Naruto.

Sakura was relatively quiet sitting on the train, spending most of it people watching as she always did with the occasional story about her day. Upon emerging from the station however she was silent, realizing they were in the upper, business portion of the prefect. Somewhere she had never been; or rather had no reason to be. The buildings towered above them, mostly built with black glass so it wasn't easy to make out anything inside. They reflected off of the city lights outside and caused an eerie glow. It was beautiful however; in a manmade, completely unnatural sort of way. Yet Sakura liked that, one of the reasons that lead here to be so obsessed with New York City since she was young. It had always been so fascinating to her that simple humans could create structures so colossal and idealistically perfect; literally being the epitome of this district. Sasuke lead them for several blocks passed the heart of many major businesses until they reached a block of residential buildings; still looking almost identical. As expected he guided them into the largest, newest looking one as he swiped a keycard at the entrance.

The lobby alone screamed luxury, the floor paved with designed, rich marble forming a star like shape at the center. The whole of it consisted of tints of lime green with subtle hues of purple.

"Whoa!" Sakura gasped, jogging to the middle of it. She looked up eagerly at the ceiling where her eyes met with a shimmering, crystal chandelier, "This is so incredibly beautiful! Those crystals reflect rainbow colored shapes onto the floor, making the green tint purple!" She observed in awe, eyes wide and jaw agape much. This caused Sasuke to smile lightly for a brief second. He sauntered slowly to where she stood, looking up then down at the marble.

"Hm, so it does. I've never noticed that before," he observed.

"Neh, how have you never noticed that before?!" She shouted in disbelief. The 19 year old shrugged.

"I never really look around in here I guess, just right to the elevators or the exit," he answered honestly.

"Jesus, that chandelier's probably worth more than I'll ever make in my life," Naruto stated as he joined them.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Sasuke chortled, causing the blonde to scowl.

"Good evening, Mr. Uchiha," a middle aged man greeted from an auburn, wooden desk to the right. Sasuke roamed over to him, nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

"Friends of yours?" the man added. The Uchiha blinked for a second, mulling over the words. Eventually he agreed,

"yes, yes they are." He hadn't even noticed Sakura at his side as she reached her hand over the desk.

"Sakura Haruno, sir, it's nice to meet you," she smiled widely. The man stared at her hand oddly, but took it.

"Um, hello, Ryu Miyazaki," he greeted with a look of confusion. Naruto stood annoyed in the distance, not bothering to introduce himself as always.

"That's Naruto; he's bad with this kind of thing." Sakura chuckled, motioning in his direction.

"Oh, alright then." Ryu concluded with a fake smile, still unsure of what to think. Sasuke meanwhile was dwelling on the fact that he had never asked the desk clerk's name; despite talking with him on several occasions and having lived there now for two years.

"We've got studying to do, idiots," Naruto called to them from the center of the lobby.

"Oh, right," Sakura nodded, "well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Ryu! If you're still here when we leave I'll make sure to say goodbye." She turned around, jogging away with her hair dancing around her back. Sasuke stood in shock in the same shock as Ryu.

"Um, right…" he droned, "see you later, Ryu." He bid him goodbye awkwardly as he walked away. How was she so open and friendly with people? He had never understood that. It was just something she'd always done. He concluded it was just a part of Sakura's personality.

The elevator sailed the three of them 45 floors up until stopping, allowing them entrance onto the floor. The hallway was long and seamlessly infinite. Sakura took note that as they walked they passed not a single door. Eventually they came upon one, Sasuke turning to it and swiping a keycard without a word.

"Are you the only person on this floor..?" The coral haired girl asked distantly, walking in and eying the flat in awe. Sasuke nodded silently as he hung his jacket up, prodding to the kitchen shortly after. Sakura gaped at the ceiling and flooring with similar astonishment, though much more excitedly.

"Is this real wood flooring?!" She gasped, crouching down and dragging the pad of her index finger across it.

"Of course it is, what else would it be?" Sasuke quipped as he filled up a glass of water.

"Well I only have laminate in my apartment… real wood was too expensive so…" She answered distantly. That made sense. He had the urge to apologize, often forgetting people couldn't always afford the same things him and his brother could. Sakura didn't act as offended easily anymore; so he left it. "It's so gorgeous in here," she guffawed, inspecting the pillars that attached to the ceiling, also clearly lined with real, auburn tinged wood. The living area was immense and open, decorated by two black leather couches and a large flat screen against the far wall. The kitchen adorned the opposite end, slightly more compact with a medium sized dining table adjacent to it. In the distance was the entrance to a hallway; assumingly leading to the bedroom areas.

Sasuke sat at the dining table as he fished his laptop from his bag.

"Have any food around here?" Naruto asked, not nearly as impressed as their female counterpart.

"In the fridge, idiot," he answered as he typed into his keyboard. Sakura took a seat across from him at the table, digging out her books and computer she had just recently bought. It had been a huge dig from her budget, meaning her haircut would have to be further postponed; much to her annoyance. Her self-titled 'mane' was getting out of hand. "So I e-mailed you the cram guide, it's organized on a spread sheet displaying the key topics we need to go over that are most likely to be on the test." He explained. Sakura sighed.

"Why do you always have to organize everything on spread sheets? Word or powerpoint better display bullet points and topics; plus you can elaborate much easier," she admonised, pink eyebrows raised.

"We use it at the company so I figured it's the most innovative way for organizing information," he commented.

"Sasuke, not everyone is raised within the confines of a fortune 500 company." She spoke with a smile. He frowned at her.

"Um, let's worry about your guy's stuff later, I'm the one with a D in muscular health!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat at the table with a platter of pizza rolls.

"_Introduction, _to muscular health," Sakura corrected, "it's a sample class! How does anyone fail that?"

"The why of the situation doesn't matter, Sakura, we just have to deal with the problem at hand." Naruto prompted seriously, crossing his arms over his chest. She sighed,

"fine, get out your assignments and text books."

The three of them had arrived at Sasuke's flat at around 8:30 pm. Before they all knew it, the clock ticked 11 as Sakura closed Naruto's text book with several papers inside. She had spent all of that time helping him while Sasuke reorganized his cram sheet into a bulleted word document. While that had only taken 45 minutes he was now halfheartedly checking emails and aimlessly surfing the web.

"If all of that doesn't get your grade up to at least a 'B' then it's hopeless," she groaned, leaning back in her chair.

"My brain hurts," Naruto drooled with his head on the table.

"That's why I gave you those notes so you can look them over if you forget anything. Do not lose them!" She ordered, smacking him lightly. Naruto stood up wairily, exhausted as he stretched in place.

"Well, I'm out of here for the night. Hinata wanted me to come over and watch movies when I was done," Naruto began as he loaded all of his stuff back into his bag, "you two losers will just have to continue without me." Sakura glared at him.

"So you're just ditching us now that I've put all of this time into you?" She griped. He nodded dumbly,

"of course."

"Whatever, get out of here you useless dummy," she waved him away. Naruto bid goodbye to Sasuke with a few colorful insults and he was gone, leaving the two of them quietly to themselves.

"Alright, so you're going to have to explain to me how to read this spreadsheet," Sakura stated as she pulled up the document.

"Check your messages again," he spoke boringly. So she did, downloading another attached file. It pulled up in a word document.

"Oh, Sasuke, you didn't have to do that!" Sakura insisted, a guilty look on her face.

"Tch, not like I had anything else to do with you giving Naruto his dose of special education," Sasuke retorted, causing her to giggle.

"Yeah, you're right I guess." Sasuke observed her as she scanned through the document, reflecting in the lenses of her glasses that she wore on occasion. Her new laptop was surprisingly nice for being such a brash purchase. Surprising since she claimed to be on such a strict budget. Then again he did see the amount of tips she made even from one short shift, so that had to help. Yet it lead him to question why she was so stiff with money when not only she had a decent income but had her parents as well; even if she wasn't living with them.

"So, did your parents give you money for your laptop?" He asked suddenly. Not until after the words filtered out of his mouth did he hear how improper it sounded. Sakura simply smiled at him, a shade of pink tinting her cheeks.

"Oh, no, I just had to work religiously for a few weeks and dip into my rainy day fund," she spoke shyly.

"Why didn't they? Did you not ask them?" Sasuke prodded. She redirected her emerald eyes downward.

"Um, no Sasuke," she laughed nervously, "my mom left us not long after you did. Then my dad lost his job so… I'm entirely on my own. Including financially." She went on to explain. _Shit_. He shouldn't of said anything.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't of asked," he said anxiously, pretending to be engrossed in something on his computer.

"No, I don't mind talking about it really, and you didn't know so it's fine," Sakura assured him with another winning smile.

The beeping sound of a correct keycard being swiped interrupted their conversation, Sasuke's eyes widening. The tall figure of Itachi pushed through the door, suitcase in tow along with a folded newspaper in his free hand.

"God damn stupid suitcase," he cursed under his breath, the spaciousness of the flat causing his grumbles to echo. After successfully getting in he closed the door behind him, attention focusing on the kitchen. His eyes widened as well, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Oh, Sasuke, you have a _friend_ over?" Itachi sounded, his overly sharp canines showing.

"I thought you weren't coming home till the end of the month," Sasuke growled. Sakura growed increasingly awkward.

"Well, we sealed the Berkshire deal in Manhattan without a sweat so, I figured I'd come home early," he replied soothingly as he propped his suitcase against the wall, "what's little Sakura doing here?"

"We were just studying," Sakura responded before Sasuke had the chance, standing up from her seat.

"Oh yeah, _studying_?" The older Uchiha rhetorted with a wink, causing her to blush.

"N-No, really," she corrected anxiously, smiling as she turned her computer towards him, "Sasuke wrote up a spread sheet for me because I had missed a few periods due to work. But I'm terrible with spread sheets so he was explaining it in a way I could understand for our test Monday." She went on to lament. He inspected his brother suspiciously, glancing at the computer monitor as he made his way to the kitchen.

"Sasuke's always had the habit of organizing everything in spread sheets, I'm surprised you understand it at all," Itachi concluded, walking to the sink and grabbing a glass of water. Inwardly she sighed with insurmountable relief while Sasuke looked like he was doing everything in his power not to scream.

"Yeah, it's been difficult, that's for sure," Sakura agreed, followed by a moment of silence as he sipped at his beverage. "Um, Mr. Uchiha, did you say you were in New York, just now? If you don't mind me asking?" She questioned nervously, eyes focused on the ground.

"Why yes, I have been for the past two weeks, working on a deal with Berkshire Hathaway," he replied, "why do you ask?" She smiled awkwardly,  
"oh, no particular reason. I've just got an odd fascination with New York you could say."

"Well," Itachi began, pulling his phone from his pants pocket, "do you wanna see some of the images I took on this last bout?" Sakura's eyes widened, sparkling with admiration.

"Oh my goodness yes, if you wouldn't mind of course, Mr. Uchiha," she chided whilst standing on her tip toes.

"Mr. Uchiha was my father's name, Sakura, call me Itachi," he corrected, rolling his eyes, "but yes, of course. Come over here." And so she did. Sasuke simply watched in disbelief as this completely alien scene played out in front of him.

"Is that Wall Street?!" The roseate haired girl gasped at Itachi's side as they sat on the leather couch in the living room.

"Yup, that's where we did most of our meetings," he replied in a montone, eyes focused on his phone screen, "this is an authentic Italian deli about eight blocks down from Times Square in the residential neighborhoods of Manhattan. I have to go to every time I'm there. Seriously the best pizza I've ever had, even beats Chicago; and that's saying something." He went on to say as he swiped his finger across the screen. Sakura ogled at every picture, hands balled underneath her jaw as if she were watching some spectacular movie.

"Everything just looks so amazing, like right out of a film," she drawled, mouth agape as she spectated.

A strange irritation bubbled within Sasuke as he watched them getting along famously.

"Isn't it getting a bit _late, _Sakura?" Sasuke hissed. Her gaze shot up immediately, glancing at the time on her phone.  
"Oh, yes, you're right," she agreed, standing up, "thank you so, _so _much Itachi. I haven't gotten to look at any close up photos of the city since my father brought me photos when I was little. So really, thank you!" She proclaimed graciously with a genuine smile.

"No problem, Sakura, I'll be in town for the next week or so. You'll have to come over for dinner. With or without Sasuke since he's such a stick in the mud," Itachi laughed, patting her on the head and causing her face to heat up.  
"Um, sure, if I've got the time off from work," she replied as she got her stuff together. "Well, thanks for helping me Sasuke, I'm off tomorrow so if I end up getting lost again I might give you a call." Sakura continued, pulling her tote over her shoulder. Sasuke glared, refusing to make eye contact with her.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," he stated harshly. Sakura blinked, very clearly confused with a slight bit of hurt flickering across her expression.

"R-Right, um…" she stuttered, "well, thank you two for having me over to your home. Have a great rest of your weekend." She subtly left without another word.

Silence filled the room, Sasuke returning to his computer.

"So, little Sakura isn't so little anymore," Itachi narrated as he rummaged through the fridge.

"Don't be dumb, she's the same height she's been since sixth grade," he quipped.

"Don't be dumb, Sasuke, that's not what I meant," he said with a grin, pulling a container of tupperware from the fridge.

"That's illegal, I'll have you arrested." He fumed, eyebrows furrowed. Itachi chuckled,

"she's legally an adult now so it's pretty far from." To this he offered no reply. "I'm just joking Sasuke, don't get your panties in a bunch," he laughed, patting his little brother on the back and leaning in to his ear, "you did a pretty fantastic job of being an asshole to her though, so I'd give her a call unless you wanted that to be your last '_study session_.'"

"Oh yeah, because you know so much about relationships," Sasuke rolled his eyes with his tone cloaked in sarcasm. Itachi ambled over to the hallway entrance with the tupperware container in hand.

"I know more than you think, little brother."

* * *

Sakura was angry, and because Sakura was angry, she attempted to divert her attention to a game on her cell phone. And because Sakura wasn't paying attention to where she was walking but to temple run, Sakura was now lost. It had worked. She wasn't mad at Sasuke and his completely improper rudeness aynore; but as instead at her incompetence when it came to direction. She was surrounded by bass heavy music and lit up signs, several girls pushing passed her in heels that were as long as her forearm. Guessing she was probably in the clubbing area between her residential area and the business district. That still put her miles and miles away from home.

"Sakura?!" A loud, clearly intoxicated female shouted from down the block. She turned around abruptly, eyes wide. "I thought that was you! Not many girls with naturally pink hair!" She only saw black before being brought into a huge, suffocating hug. After a long embrace the culprit stood back. Sakura gazed at Ino's light blue eyes as they inspected her from head to toe. "What in god's name are you doing here?" She laughed at her fragile friend. The roseate haired 18 year old sighed in relief. Maybe Ino could tell her how to get home.

"I'm lost, actually," she admitted dumbly while scratching the back of her head.

"What? Where did you come from?" The blonde asked quizzically. Sakura had to come up with an excuse quick. She couldn't say Sasuke's because Ino would have a heart attack, and she couldn't say Sai's because she knew they were done.

"I was temping at this bar up the road," she lied.

"Oh, that explains the uniform," Ino chuckled, having never been to her real place of work so not being able to call her out on her bull shit, "well since you're out, you should come to this club with me! My date bailed anyway!" She announced cheerfully. Sakura eyed her oldest friend; dressed in a tight black cocktail dress and heels, blond hair falling passed her shoulders in loose curls.

"I can't Ino, I'm so underdressed," she spoke lowly with a fake smile.

"Nonsense! You can borrow my makeup and you simply look like you're wearing some cosplay! Especially in this club it's more normal than you'd think!" The blonde insisted, pushing her along. On the inside the pinkette finally admitted her defeat. It would successfully get her mind off whatever Sasuke was mad at her for. Additionally she hadn't been out in god knew how long. She was also off tomorrow; and that was really the only excuse Sakura needed.

A good half an hour later the two girls arrived at the club, Ino predictably attracting insane amounts of attention as she always did. As result, Sakura found herself fetching drinks at the bar.

"But Ino, I'm not twenty! I'll get carded!" She had yelled for lack of being able to whisper with the music throbbing in her ears.

"Non sense," Ino slurred, "you're a cute girl. That's all it takes." At first, she had been unbearingly nervous, ordering herself just one drink for a trial run. The bartender only glanced at her for a brief moment before serving up her order. A tall, straight glass of tequila; her favorite spirit, on the rocks. Voilà. It was done. And her motivation to go back to awkwardly serve Ino and her muse of the night a round of shots was now nonexistent. She perched herself on one of the high, oddly shaped stools and took a swig. It took a mere hour for Sakura's night to go from bad to worse.

"Fucking asshole," she slurred underneath her breath, taking a shot of yellow, lemon flavored vodka. The bartender glanced at her in horror. "Things were good, _great_ the past month! But does that mean anything to him? Nope. The second it suits him he's had enough with me. As always!" Sakura shouted. Very, _very _intoxicated.

"Have you tried calling him since you left?" Another drunk girl at her left proclaimed. She thought about it for a second.

"No, no I haven't," she realized, "what a great idea!"

Twelve blocks down, a phone chimed several times. Sasuke heard it but chose not to answer it, rolling over to the right side of his bed and away from the obnoxious device on his nightstand. It rang again not once, but twice. Rolling back over, he glanced at the name spread across the top of the screen in white letters,

'_Sakura Haruno_'.

Something wasn't right. It was two am. Picking it up urgently he swiped the screen to answer.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" He asked urgently.

"What, you answered?" She drawled in bewilderment.

"You called four times, of course I did. Or I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep," he answered coldly.

"Of course, that's the only reason you answered," Sakura sighed on the other end, her words crammed together.

"Wait, what? Are you _drunk_?" He accused in shock.

"Maybe. And lost. Drunk and lost. Yeah. A bit of both," she laughed halfheartedly, "I'm sorry."

"How'd you get lost _and _drunk?" Sasuke questioned tiredly, sitting up on the side of his mattress and running his hand through his messy black hair.

"You made me mad, and you're leaving, so I played a game on my phone to distract myself. Then I walked way passed the train station and to a club place, where Ino was. And she took me in then I didn't get carded and I drank a thing of tequila which was suuuuper good, then the bartender asked if I had ever tried a lemon drop before. Then I tried that. Then tried like four more. Then I thought about how mad I was at you again. Then I left. And now I have no idea where I am," Sakura explained hurriedly, Sasuke having to focus to understand what she was saying. He sighed deeply,

"can you find a street sign?" He asked her, exhasperated by just talking to her.

"Um, hold on," she said. He could hear the clacking of her shoes against the pavement. "it looks like double u 39th and… Yamamato? Yamamoto? Am I saying that right?"

"West 39th and Yamamoto, yes, that's not far. I'll be there in a second," he sighed exhaled again, standing up warily, "do _not _move." Sasuke ordered quickly and hung up.

Taking a minute to throw on a shirt but taking no time to change out of his sweats, the aggravated Uchiha made his way down the hallway of his flat attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes. He could hear the echo of voices and vibrations on the sound system in the living room. Turning the corner he found the typical sight of Itachi in his boxers watching his favorite television show, 'Big Brother'.

"Where are _you _going at this hour?" Itachi prompted as he stuffed his face with a handful of popcorn.

"Sakura's inebriated several blocks down," Sasuke answered boringly.

"Not taking one of the cars?" His brother prodded.

"No, I'm not about to risk her puking in it," which was sad but true.

"Tch. Good luck with that one."

The most innovative way of getting around metropolitan Japan was usually by train or vehicle. However it was late enough there would hopefully be close to no traffic; and he was not about to take a drunk Sakura on the train. Especially when it was close enough to his flat. Upon walking nonchalantly out of his home Sasuke found his theory to be surprisingly accurate for a Saturday night in one of the many clubbing districts. There was almost no one around, vehicle or otherwise. In a way it was fortune for after a good ten minutes of walking, it took nothing at all to spy a pink haired girl spinning around the body of a lamp post.

"Come with me! And I'll take you to a world of puuure imagination!" The drunk 18 year old sang her work anthem terribly off key. In that moment the exhausted Uchiha was so very thankful there was not a soul in sight. She caught sight of him immediately, putting her hand over her eyes as if blocking the sun to see better. "Wait, is that you, Sasuke?!" She exclaimed, still at a distance.

"Who else would it be?" He sighed while walking towards her.

"Whoa, you actually came," Sakura spoke to herself, shocked. He was relieved to see she had somehow managed to keep ahold of her bag. Her posture wavered as she stood and giggled. "You're a walking contradiction, you know that?"

"Yeah, am I?" Sasuke came closer and closer to her. Sakura scrunched up her nose in confusion. He proceeded to do the last thing she could have imagined. Sasuke picked the pink haired girl by her waist, effortlessly throwing her over his shoulder.

"What the hell Sasuke?!" She shouted, pounding on his back. "Free me now!"

"You can barely stand, let alone walk. This will be much quicker," he stated in his borish tone.

Minutes passed as he waited for Sakura to fall asleep, but it never happened. She shouted and complained the whole way, undoubtedly drawing some much unwanted attention. As they entered his building Ryu watched them with confusion.

"She's drunk," Sasuke spoke to him as the elevator doors closed in front of them, like it was a normal excuse. Ryu simply shrugged, turning back to the papers he was reading over.

"You truly are a _bastard_, Sasuke Uchiha! D'you know that?!" She shouted as they pushed into the door of the flat.

"Between you and Naruto I think I'm aware," he answered simply. She shrieked in frustration.

"How do you do that all the damn time? Act like you don't care about anything?!"

"Hey Sakura," Itachi called with a smile from the couch, somewhat calming her for a second. She grinned as Sasuke continued to haul her into the living room and towards the hallway.

"Hi Itachi!" Sakura waved, her face then diverting back to seriousness, "why is your brother such an ass? You're cool! Why can't he be as cool as you?" She drabbled.

"I don't know, little Sakura, I've been asking myself that my whole life," Itachi chuckled, waving back in their direction. Sasuke ignored his brother's comment, taking the drunk girl into the hallway and kicking open the door of his room.

He tossed her on his bed, standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So what in the _hell _compelled you to get belligerently drunk?" He asked, scowling.

"Free drinks. And Ino. And not getting carded," Sakura shrugged simply.

"And I did what to piss you off?" He continued, her pink eyebrows furrowing.

"You're leaving again and want nothing to do with me," she replied honestly, clearly due to her intoxication.

"What? I'm not leaving?" He commented, clearly confused.

"You are, though," Sakura began, face calm, "you said you didn't want me to talk to you. You acted that way before you left. So it has to be the same reason, right? It makes sense." Sasuke sighed at her reasoning.

"I was angry at Itachi, I'm not leaving," he corrected, wandering over to his dresser and flicking on a medium sized flat screen.

"So you get mad at Itachi so you get mad at me…?" Drunk Sakura asked, trying to make sense of what he was saying. To that he offered no reply. It was an accurate observation. Sasuke grabbed the remote and sat on the opposite side of the bed in silence. "Doesn't it get tiring? Always being mad at the world?" The nursing student inquired after a lengthy breath of silence.

"I'm not… mad at the world," Sasuke drawled, head down.

"Then why do you act like it?" She interjected immediately, eyes watering. "Because it's pretty shitty, you me and Naruto having a fantastic month spending time together. Feeling like you're back, then you're not. Then you assume being all melancholic and self-loathing simply because Itachi shows up." Her words weren't filtered in the slightest. He had no response to offer as he took in every syllable. "Things got bad, and you left. Which I understand. I would have too. But things have been bad for Naruto since day one, and things got bad for me after you left. Then worse when the one person I thought would unconditionally love me, didn't. I know it's nothing in comparison to losing both of your parents, but my Mom chose to leave me, and that hurts a lot too. It's not right to belittle people's suffering just because it isn't on par with your own. Empathy is something I would think you out of all people would feel." Sakura threw it all out on the table, tears cascading down her flushed cheeks. Minutes passed as she cried to herself, yet offering not a single noise. Honesty was not a thing Sasuke was accustomed to, especially when he was the exact opposite.

"And I don't want you to think I want your pity, I detest it. It's disgusting to me. But a little reliability isn't too much to ask I think, considering what we've been through together and apart…" Sakura continued with a sniff, wiping the tears from her cheeks despite their steady flow. "I'm honestly surprised we get along. You live in your memories, and I in a fantasy I guess that you'll actually stay by my side." After another moment of silence when he offered no reply, she laid down slowly, bracing herself as the room swirled around her. Sasuke continued to sit opposite of her, hands gripping tightly at the sheets,body unmoving. Minutes fell off the clock as Sakura slowly lulled herself into a drunken sleep.

"I do empathize," he began lowly, her hearing none of it as she dozed. "I empathize with every single person who has left you, who has taken you for granted, or belittled you. Because we all realize that upon letting you go, we also lost the most important part of ourselves."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I went there. Long chapter, big character development. I know drunk Sakura came out of nowhere but, I've literally been there. Most emotional drunk sessions aren't planned. Plus she had to be honest with Sasuke, and with how little she trusts him or Naruto right now, it was going to be awhile the sober route. Oh what an awkward morning it's going to be...**

**Love those of you who take the time to review, means the world.**


	4. IV - Forget

**A/N: This chapter's full of a huge modicum of emotion. I listened to Where the Story Ends by the Fray & Rabbit by Matt Duke for most of the portion after they leave for the train station. Such beautiful songs; so many feels.**

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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_Chapter IV_

"_In the bright future you can't forget your past." _

_- Bob Marley_

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_**The awkwardness **_of that morning at the beginning of the week still plagued her memories despite having been almost six days previous. Sakura watched boringly as Sasuke stood at the front of their class presenting his thesis statement on the projector. Her cheeks heated in a light hue of pink as she recalled last Sunday morning with an elongated sigh.

A foreign sense of warmth was what had awoken her on that hazy morning. Her body ebbed and throbbed everywhere; mainly her head and temples. Her body was caked in an uncomfortable sweat. Her eyelids had been too heavy to open, her jumbled thoughts attempting to assess exactly what the hell she had done that previous Saturday night. Thinking back she had remembered studying at Sasuke and Itachi's, being upset and getting lost on the way home, and not long after being dragged to a club by Ino who she had by some awkwardly bad luck ran into. The devilish blond she so called her oldest friend had peer pressured her into going to the bar and getting a drink. Upon not getting carded, it had all started with a glass of tequila, then seven lemon drops later resulted in her, for lack of a better term, getting white girl wasted. The thought of the alcohol she had so heavily consumed made her stomach churn and forehead grow warmer. Rubbing the sweat from her brow Sakura had proceeded ro let out an exasperated groan, her bent legs rising closer to her chest in an attempt at balling herself up in anguish. However this action had been strangely halted by a strong presence around her waist that wasn't allowing her torso to bend any further. This had shaken the 18 year old rudely back to reality as she heightened her senses, noticing the light breathing on her neck.

Sakura's eyes jumped around analyzing the room where she had found herself. It took only a brief moment to come to the conclusion that she didn't recognize this place. She exhaled lightly, thankful that she hadn't somehow found herself at Sai's or some other old flame's. Yet that fact alone had brought forth another issue: who had she been with? Some random guy? Slowly she had rotated her body, the arms around her slightly loosening as she attempted to see just who she was currently in bed with. Her emerald adorned pupils widened as the realization had hit her like a freight train.

"Oh _my god_!" Sakura exclaimed frantically as she jumped up, no longer worrying about waking the person. She had warbled on her feet at first, still intoxicated, as Sasuke jumped up from the bed as well with his expression wild. He said nothing but looked shocked as he eyed the pinkette from head to toe.  
"What in god's name are you shouting about at this hour?!" He had yelled at her in annoyance, pointing at his alarm clock, "Its eight o'clock in the morning damn it!"

"Why am I in bed with you?!" Sakura had shouted in response, getting right to the point with her words still slightly slurred. The Uchiha glanced at his messed up bed sheets then at her, decorated by her black, tank top style undershirt and matching black underwear. Her uniform sat bunched up next to his dresser. For the first time in years, his cheeks had tinted red.

"N-No, it's not like that!" He went on to explain frantically, "you were drunk and you called me to come and get you. Itachi was on the couch in the living room and I was worried about you getting sick, so you slept in here!" Despite his words, she still chose to stand defensively and nervously, evidently flustered. She had mulled over his explanation in her head and slowly blurred memories started coming back.

"God damn it yeah, I remember now," she had eventually admitted, rubbing her dry eyes angrily. Sasuke slowly regained his composure as he pulled a navy blue shirt over his head, avoiding eye contact with her. Sakura walked over to her uniform, picking up and eying it. "Aw, there's a tear in it!" She gasped, pink eyebrows furrowed.

"Doesn't surprise me, you were spinning circles around a lamp post when I found you," he commented. This had caused Sakura to blush immediately as she continued remembering more and more about the night. She averted her eyes to the floor as bits and pieces of what she had said to him replayed in her mind.

"_Doesn't it get tiring? Always being mad at the world?"_

_"Empathy is something I thought you out of all people would feel," _

"_I'm honestly surprised we get along. You live in your memories, and I in a fantasy I guess that you'll actually stay by my side." _

Her face had begun to turn purple as a wave of full-fledged embarrassment flooded over her. Getting drunk had led to her being entirely honest with Sasuke, which was literally the last thing she had wanted to do. He was the last person in the world she could have trusted to open up to, and she knew in all honesty all it probably did was annoy him. That was his typical emotional reaction to most feelings, really.

"I-I'm sorry I was such a nuisance, I'll be leaving now," Sakura had stammered out as she shoved her tattered uniform into her bag.

"Yeah? You're gonna get on the train looking like that?" The Uchiha scoffed as he lightly smirked, flipping through the channels on the television. She then looked down at herself, her complexion turning yet another shade of red. Damn, she had been on a roll that morning.

"U-Um…" Sakura drawled. She couldn't have gone anywhere looking like that. Without another word Sasuke had stood up, boringly walking over to his dresser and grabbing a few articles of clothing. He tossed them in her general direction still making a diligent effort not to look at her directly.

"Those clothes are too small for me. Wear them to get home," he commented. She inspected the clothing curiously: a pair of grey, cloth shorts and a plain blue t-shirt. They still looked a bit big for her, but they'd just have to suffice. Really Sakura had just been fortunate he didn't leave her to walk of shame on the metro in her under clothes.

Quickly she pulled them over; Sasuke with his back to her as he watched the news from the opposite end of his bed. Slipping on her flats she then began anxiously,

"Right, well, I guess I'll see you in class then."

"You didn't want any more help with studying for the test?" He had interjected. Sakura blinked.

"Wait, you still want to do that with me..?" She asked, very clearly confused.

"Sakura," he began, glancing at her, "just because you were an annoying drunk person doesn't make it the end of the world." She gaped at him as she took in his words. She had been genuinely shocked that he wasn't permanently mad at her.

"Oh, um… okay…" She had droned in an unsure response, "Do you wanna skype later when I get home and cleaned up then?"

"Doesn't matter, you're the one who needs the help, not me," he quipped coldly. Of course he being nice had been short lived. But nonetheless, Sakura had smiled.

"Okay, I'll call you later then," and she went on to close the door of his bedroom behind her with a curt wave.

Inwardly Sakura grinned at the not so distant memory. She had wanted so badly to bring that morning up, how she'd awoken with his arms around her. The more she thought about it the more she convinced herself it was probably a subconscious action that Sasuke had simply done in his sleep. Nothing more, nothing less. Now the two, dare she call them, friends, found themselves in their last class period of the week reading their introductory thesis statements for their new, end of term unit. It was insane to think spring was almost over with less than a month left till summer break. Refreshing even, leaving the pink haired 18 year old very proud that she had survived university thus far. If things continued going as well as they had, hopefully she would be able to get the paid internship at the city's largest hospital soon. The position would leave her under the wing of Dr. Tsunade whom she had shadowed in high school. Sakura wanted nothing more than to learn from her. Now her dream was just shy of coming true.

"Alright, thank you for that, Sasuke," Inoichi nodded at Sasuke as he returned to his seat just in front of her.

"How bad did it suck?" He whispered to Sakura, annoyed and clearly not impressed with his performance.

"I've heard worse, I think," the pinkette replied sheepishly, meriting a quick glare from the Uchiha.

"This last unit isn't going to be easy so, although I am assigning no homework for the weekend, I do recommend you all become well read on the difference between chemical imbalanced and purely emotional disorders. Or rather, do you guys think there_ is_ a difference?" Inoichi winked at the class, causing them all to groan.

"Hey, Professor, how about you just tell us what you want us to research rather than all that innuendo bull shit?!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Well, Mr. Inuzuka, that wouldn't be any fun would it?" The blond chuckled evilly from his desk while opening up his laptop. "Class dismissed!"

"That old pony tail wearing fuck has a casual drug habit I swear," Kiba grumbled to himself as he careened out of class just in front of Sakura, causing her to laugh. Sasuke stopped just ahead to wait for her to catch up.

"So, are you going out tonight?" Sakura asked as she joined him. They began walking and he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, because I go out _so _much," he retorted.

"I know, I guess I was just trying to prove my belief wrong that you are in fact a hermit," she chuckled.

"I'm not a hermit, I just can't stand most people," Sasuke growled in annoyance.

"Well, then what do you call us spending time together? That usually means you have to stand someone to hang out with them," Sakura asked jokingly, aiming to irritate him.

"Don't get full of yourself, I just put up with you," he hissed.

"Ouch," she feigned fake offense.

The two made their way to Ichiraku's like they had the past several Friday's, becoming almost a tradition of sorts. Sakura usually worked at six so that often left them some time to kill. With Sasuke's caffeine dependency he would usually end up at the café anyway; it was convenient.

"You two want your usual?" The young red headed girl who almost always took their order asked. Sakura nodded,

"yes please, but make them large." They took a seat at the bar just a bit further down. "I don't understand how you order just straight espresso, that's so bad for you," Sakura divulged as she mounted her bag on the back of the chair.

"Yeah? Because coffee mixed with ice cream and whipped cream is so much healthier?" He argued in his signature monotone. She frowned.

"Jeez, you're so defensive about everything," the first year exhaled. The chime of her cell phone inside her bag announced that she was getting a phone call and interrupted their conversation. After rummaging around she found it and observed the screen, displaying a number she didn't have in her contacts. "Hm, that's odd," she mumbled.

"Don't answer it if you don't know the number," Sasuke stated. Ignoring him, Sakura slid her finger across the screen to answer it.

"Yes, hello?" She answered. He watched her face as it turned from innocently unsure to serious within a split second. "Yes, hi, no, I'm not busy. Is something wrong?" She began talking while standing up from the stool, walking away and to the window at the front of the café. Sasuke could no longer hear as she paced nervously, her emerald eyes abnormally intense. Automatically he assumed it was Sai. It had to be. This caused the Uchiha to scowl and focus his sights back in front of him.

Eventually the girl laid their two coffees out in front of him with a polite bow. A minute passed, then another, and soon five more, Sasuke's agitation only continuing to grow. Finally Sakura joined him once more, her expression entirely blank.

"What did that pretentious asshole want?" He spat after sipping at his espresso.

"What?" She stared at him in complete loss.

"Sai, what did he want?" Sasuke repeated. It took her a second but finally her eyes read realization.

"Oh, no, that wasn't Sai," Sakura drawled, turning from him and beginning to drink her coffee. "It was this doctor from Uzushio General."

"Uzushio? That's hours way, what're they doing calling you here?" Sasuke prodded. Her apple green eyes were distant as she stirred the whipped cream into her beverage.

"Well, my father's in Uzushio and, he, um…" Sakura stammered, "he had this thing happen, and he's kind of there so, they had to let me know." He gazed at her confusingly.

"So is he gonna be okay?" He asked, trying to understand exactly what she was acting so weird about.

"Probably not," she responded, "they said I should probably come see him. But, I don't have the money to afford the train fare so-"

"Wait," Sasuke interrupted her, "what is wrong with him exactly, Sakura?" She sat in silence for a moment.

"He had a heart attack at the grocery store I guess…" she answered in an unsure monotone, "but I have work in the morning too, so. They said they'd keep me updated. That's all I can do."

For a minute or so, nothing else was said between them. Sakura drank her coffee while Sasuke sat unmoving.

"You can use my train card," he announced suddenly. Sakura eyed him weirdly.

"Um, what?"

"My train card," he repeated, "it's my company card me and Itachi or sometimes our assistant use to travel for meetings. As long as me or him are the card holder we can bring any other person along. It's prepaid so it won't cost anything."

"No, I can't ask you to do that!" She said immediately, "plus I have to work in the morning. It's just not meant to be."

"You're not asking me to do anything," he stated seriously, "I'm offering. As a comrade. Plus, I've had about enough of Itachi as I can take, if I have to spend another night with him at the flat I might murder him. So really you're doing me, and him, a favor."

"B-But," Sakura stuttered, awkwardly shifting around in her seat, "I have work."

"Old man Sozo will understand, Sakura, family always comes first," Sasuke proclaimed as he pushed her phone towards her on the counter top. "Give him a call and we'll go."

Although nervous at the idea, the nursing major finally budged and did as he had said. Old man Sozo was predictably accepting and told her to take all the time she needed. Being scheduled off Sunday, Sakura was hoping the weekend would be all she needed, and would be able to resume her shifts come Monday. They rushed immediately to the train station, taking no time to run home to grab any necessities.

"We can get toiletries when we're there," Sasuke had reassured her as she continued to ask if he was sure that was okay.

Eventually the two found themselves on the seven o'clock train to Uzushio, dark clouds adorning the sky as it left the station. Sakura was abnormally quiet upon them taking their seats, not bothering to occupy herself with anything as her mind wandered with her hands rested lightly in her lap. A good half hour passed by and the pitter patter of rain drops began to collide with the train windows, drizzling down in an entrancing waltz. Sasuke eyed it precariously as he opened his laptop, pulling up the spreadsheet for his economics class. Meanwhile the pink haired girl at his side continued to be lost in thought, mulling over just what she was going to say upon seeing her father for the first time in over a year.

The ride would take just around two hours. Considering the weather and the time of year, the train was relatively empty. Uzushio was a much smaller town on the outskirts of the city; not a popular place really for people to go visit on a Friday night. As Sasuke worked on his term final a man came by several times and checked their tickets. Sakura continued to sit in a quiet daze, occasionally adjusting and pulling down on the black, soft cloth skirt that adorned her thighs. Eventually she pulled the hair tie from her head, allowing her pink locks to fall past her shoulders as she rested her head on the back of the seat with a series of deep breaths.

It was surreal, this whole situation. Was she really about to see her father, Kizashi? It had been so long… too long, even. Many times Sakura had contemplated going to visit him in Uzushio but, between work, school, it was never a luxury time would allow. Well, that was her excuse to herself, anyway. When in reality she could have made time. But seeing her father without Mebuki at his side was still not an image the pink haired girl had grown accustomed to. All thinking of him did was bring back memories of the night that yellow cab carried her so hurriedly away from them; from their family, like they were disposable. She found herself hording a sense of anger towards her father, especially towards the beginning. Herself, too. That they didn't do more. That they weren't satisfactory, resulting in Mebuki leaving. Sakura, however, took this in stride. She attempted to better herself, to do exceedingly well in school, get high marks and going right to university after graduation. Yet her father could not to do the same. He grew depressed the longer the days wore on without his wife, receding deeper and deeper into himself. Often saying things like, '_oh, your mother will take care of that when she gets home_'. He was in a sad delusion, which wore on a 16 year old Sakura more than anything. Her father, her life's greatest source of happiness and optimism, had turned into the exact opposite. As result, Kizashi lost his job as his depression began to rule his everyday life. And she tried; she tried more than anything to help him, to fix him. But as no improvement could be seen Sakura lost whatever small amount of hope she had left. She couldn't be held back anymore or she would end up nowhere. That was just the harsh reality of it all. And so she left into the city, getting a job and working rough hours in order to help her father move out of the house they had all grown together in. A small apartment in Uzushio was where he went; his mood improved, but he still wasn't better. The last time she had seen him was the day she helped him move in. She got the bills and paid them. She knew he had a place to live which was all she could do in her position. He made no effort to contact her and Sakura likewise. He had to be fine, because regardless of what happens in life it carries on. That was one lesson she had been taught too many times over now.

Sasuke watched as his pink haired counterpart began to relax, although still in very deep thought. Slowly her eyes began to flutter closed. Another thirty minutes or so the train rounded a subtle curve, taking note of the slight shift of his posture and his bag just in front of his legs. Something lightly hit his shoulder with a dull '_thud_'. Glancing down, Sakura's head had moved to the side of his arm. He was honestly surprised she hadn't been woken by it. But no. As instead she was out like a light. The Uchiha simply sighed and returned to his homework, the rain outside hitting the windows in heavy waves as he attempted to ignore it.

"Nine o'clock arrival into Uzushio train terminal," the female voice of one of the attendants announced another half hour later as the train pulled a stop. The lights flickered slightly as a bad bout of thunder roared just above. This woke Sakura immediately. She looked around frantically in a half asleep stupor, pink hair in a mess and eyes glazed over.

"What? Are we here?" She questioned confusingly.

"Yup," Sasuke answered as he stashed his laptop away.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked.

"Not long at all," he replied. She sighed in comfort. Sakura hated falling asleep in front of was such a vulnerable state to be in, especially in public.

After getting their stuff together the two quickly left the train, walking directly into the flood of rain. Sakura jogged quickly under one of the overlaying roof structures while Sasuke lumbered slowly as always.

"Aren't you worried about your computer?" Sakura called.

"Nope, my bag's waterproof," he affirmed with a smirk. She frowned. Of _course _his bag was waterproof. As soon as he joined her he asked, "so what way is the hospital from here?"

"We need to head directly left out of the station, catch a cab hopefully or it'll be a good mile or so walk," Sakura explained as they continued on. Luckily they were greeted by a short line of taxi cabs just outside the small train station. Hopping into the closest one she announced their destination as the driver put the car into drive.

Sakura chuckled at the fact it took them mere minutes in the taxi while it would've taken them roughly twenty on foot, especially with the weather. They filtered out of the cab as she dug into her bag for fair. Pulling out her wallet, she turned back only to find Sasuke had beaten her to it. He thanked the driver politely and closed the door. She glared.

"_I _was going to get that, thank you," she hissed. He shrugged, walking passed her,

"be faster next time." Her frown only increased with his words as she eventually followed him out of the rain and into the entrance of the hospital. He was such an asshole most days.

"Hi, um," Sakura began awkwardly as she walked up to the front desk, Sasuke standing patiently in the distance, "I'm here to see my father, Kizashi Haruno. I'm his daughter Sakura from Konoha." The woman clad in light blue scrubs clicked several things on the computer, looking back up to her.

"Oh, right, Dr. Kirikawa gave you a call earlier, yes?" She asked. Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know how but I managed to work everything out to get down here." The nurse smiled at her words.

"Well, that's a very lovely thing to do. That is quite the trip, too," she commented, grabbing a clip board and walking around to meet them. "I'm sure your father will be very happy you're here. Follow me." The two followed silently.

They took a series of elevators to the Intensive Care Unit, the nurse that accompanied them swiping several cards as they passed through numerous doors. After a few minutes they stopped in the midst of a large hallway. The woman's hazel eyes flickered to a doctor in a white lab coat just several feet in front of them.

"Doctor, this is Sakura Haruno, your patient's daughter," she announced. The doctor's brown eyes flashed to them immediately.

"Ah, fantastic, it was you I spoke to on the phone?" She asked, putting her papers down and bowing. Sakura bowed politely in response.

"Yes ma'am, it was. I was able to make it after all," she remarked.

"Well you couldn't have come at a more perfect time, he's been out of surgery for an hour now and just woke up," Doctor Kirikawa spoke as she lead them down a hallway of identical, cream colored doors.

"What exactly happened?" Sakura questioned worriedly.

"Your father suffered from a spontaneous myocardial infarction due to plaque erosion," the doctor began.

"Oh, so it wasn't caused by his high cholesterol?" The 18 year old quipped.

"No, I assumed it would be as well, but blood work proved your father's cholesterol levels to have greatly improved to the point of almost being normal," she replied with an edge of confusion in her voice, "now if you don't mind me asking, Miss Haruno, is your father a smoker?"

"Well…" Sakura hesitated, "He was when I was younger. Then I started having problems with allergy induced asthma and he quit when I was ten."

"Is there any way he could have resumed his old habits?" The doctor prodded. She wanted to outwardly deny it, but she knew she couldn't. It wouldn't have been shocking, especially with his levels of stress and now being alone.

"It's… It's possible," Sakura stammered, eyes averting her attention downwards. "My mother left us a few years back and I've been living in the city working and going to school, so he wouldn't have to worry about it affecting me anymore." With those words Doctor Kirikawa wrote something down on her clipboard.

"The reason I ask is because his heart attack was catalyzed by a small lipid rich core, and although we're still unsure about what the primary risk factors are, almost all male patients associated with this type of infarction are smokers," the doctor explained the reason for her questioning. The 18 year old blinked, taking in every word. "Does that make sense, Miss Haruno?"

"Oh yes, yes. I'm a nursing student so I am familiar with your terminology and medical jargon," she pondered with a nod, "I was just thinking about how much that would make sense. Especially if he started up again after being clean for almost eight years." This caused the doctor to smile.

"That's a relief to hear you know what I'm talking about," the brown haired woman sighed, "that'll save me the time of explaining it in regular terms." Sakura grinned back.

"Oh, no, I'm not that good with some things but when it comes to this stuff, I'm pretty at home," she lamented in the most optimistic fashion she'd spoken all night.

"Well, as you're probably aware then, recovery from this type of infarction is very plausible. When I called you we still had yet to run an EKG and the medical team, including myself, was worried this was a Type 3 heart attack, which is caused by myocardial ischemia or fresh thrombosis in the coronary artery. However not long ago this theory was proven wrong and we determined his heart attack was a Type 1," Doctor Kirikawa went on to disclose. Some of the color started to return to Sakura's pale face.

"So, he's going to be okay?" She tried not to be too loud, emerald eyes gleaming.

"I can't say for sure this early on, but if we take it day by day, he should be," the Doctor answered while flashing two rows of perfectly white teeth.

"Can I see him?" She proposed immeditaly.

"Of course."

Sakura opened the door to hospital room 231 hesitantly, Sasuke close behind. He hadn't understood a single word of their conversation, but was very much relieved that her father's chance of recovery was high. The pink haired girl peered in as if she wasn't meant to be there. In the middle of the dim-lit room stood a hospital bed decorated by numerous wires, elongated tubes and beeping machines. It caused the Uchiha's stomach to churn, bringing back buried memories. In the white bed sat a man with dull pink hair and a subtle mustache, his eyes just barely squinted open and face rid of all color.

"Daddy?" Sakura sounded, her eyes wide.

"Sakura?" The man croaked. She stood up straight, hands balled underneath her chin as the door closed behind them and her eyes welled up with tears. Without another second passing she traversed over to the bed, tears cascading from her eyes to the white floor beneath. She stood next to the bed looking down at him, clearly wanting to hug him but hesitating. A series of tubes could be seen coming from underneath of the blanket that covered him, connecting to several machines at his sides.

"I would hug you but I don't want to break you," she tried to speak comically as she stiffled her cries.

"Oh honey, I'm so doped up on morphine," Kizashi chuckled followed by a small cough. She smiled, sitting on the side of the bed and hugging tightly at his arm.

"I was so worried you were going to leave me," she sobbed much like a shadow of her younger self.

"Sweetheart I'm not going anywhere, you know that," he reassured her.

"Mebuki said that too once," Sakura whispered, still attached to his arm.

"I'm not your Mom," Kizashi stated almost too seriously. She blinked, not used to him talking so sternly about her. Maybe he had finally come to terms with her leaving.

"And thank god for that," she grinned, tears still formulating and slipping down her face. To this he said nothing, smiling more than he had in years, embracing his daughter's warmth at his side despite the pain it was causing him. "I'm so sorry I left you. I should have been there, there to take care of you." Sakura sniffled.

"No, sweetheart, you had to grow. And I had to get right again. We had to do that apart," her father disagreed in a hoarse voice. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I would've held you back from living your dreams." To this she said nothing but instead sobbed into the blanket that laid cloaked over him. Sasuke had never been a fan of crying, yet it was in situations like this when it was the utmost justified. She had held in everything since she had gotten the news at the café. This was simply a normal response to almost losing another parent. With that being said, it left him wondering just how abnormal that made him.

"You didn't have to miss anything doing this, did you?" Kizashi asked as Sakura started to calm down.

"No, just work, and Sozo insisted that I come," she assured him, still latched onto his arm and now laying on the bed herself. Sasuke had taken a seat in an adjacent chair.

"Promise?" He asked.

"Promise." She affirmed.

"So, Sakura, this is the last person I imagined would come with you," Kizashi began, glancing at Sasuke. If he had made her as upset as Naruto had led on, it was pretty obvious her father wouldn't care for him much.

"Oh, um," Sakura blushed slightly, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation, "Sasuke and I have class together, and he helps me study when I miss class for work. And he let me use his train card because he knew I was worried, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford coming." Kizashi sat there, expressionless. He said nothing more after that.

"Excuse me, Miss," another nurse popped in through the door, "visiting hours are almost over." This merited a sigh from Sakura. She wanted to complain but it would do them no good.

"Okay, thank you, we'll be out right away," she replied. The nurse nodded and closed the door. Sakura stood up, quickly hugging her father's arm again. "I'll drop by first thing in the morning, okay?" She announced.

"Sweetheart, you don't have to-"

"I want to," Sakura interrupted. He thought for a second, then nodded.

"Well, I will see you in the morning then," he agreed. She clung to him one last time. She left through the door that Sasuke had been holding open, him following closely behind her.

"So, do you care if we stay at the hotel about a block down?" He started as they left out the front of the hospital. Sakura looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I'm a member with the line of hotels the one belongs to just down the street. I already made a reservation so, if that's not okay with you you're gonna be shit out of the luck." He refined.

"How the hell did you already make a reservation?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Smart phones are a wonderful thing," he rhetorted. She rolled her eyes.

"You're incorrigible, you know that?" He simply smirked.

The hotel, of course, was beautiful. Smaller but stunning nonetheless. Sasuke checked in at the front desk, grabbing two room keys and a few papers with the hotel's information.

"Oh, and can I get two orders of espresso up to our room?" He asked just before walking away.

"Of course, Mr. Uchiha," the concierge replied. As they strolled away Sakura studied him weirdly.

"Why did you order two things of espresso? I won't drink that," she commented.

"They're both for me," he replied curtly.

"You're going to drink two cups of espresso when it's almost eleven o'clock at night?" She guffawed.

"It calms me down," Sasuke said as they entered the elevator.

"What? What do you need calming down from?" She continued to pester. He offered her no reply.

Ten floors up they left the elevator, ambling down a completely vacant, red carpeted hallway.

"Sasuke, what do you need calming down from?" Sakura repeated at his side. He exhaled as he stopped at their door, inserting the room key and sliding it out as it beeped.

"I hate hospitals," Sasuke finally answered out of sheer annoyance. It took Sakura a minute to take in his words. Ultimately it made sense. When his parents were in their accident his father died on impact. However his mother, Mikoto, did not. She lived for nearly two weeks until the cranial hemorrhaging was deemed too severe and her brain stem stopped receiving any signals; leaving her to be pulled off of life support. She now felt terrible for dragging him along. She could have at least asked if he even wanted to go into the hospital in the first place, yet she hadn't even thought about it. She was too wrapped up in her own feelings to even consider Sasuke's.

"I-I'm sorry Sasuke," Sakura stammered as the door closed behind them. Sasuke began rummaging through his bag after he tossed it on his bed, looking back up at her after a moment.

"What? Why are you apologizing?" He asked, honestly confused. She was just about to explain when a knock sounded at the door.

"I'll get it." Sakura interrupted as he was about to head over. She opened the door to a woman holding a trey with two mugs of coffee on top of it. "Oh, that was quick!" She announced with a smile, pulling a few bills from her back pocket.

"Oh, Miss, the beverages are just added to the membership tab," the woman interjected.

"I know, that's for you. We really appreciate your efficient timing and your hard work," Sakura replied, exchanging the tray of coffee for the money. The woman blushed a deep shade of pink.

"T-Thank you very much, Miss!" She bowed.

"Of course, have a good evening." Sakura bowed back.

"Yes, you as well."

"You don't have to tip them," Sasuke proclaimed as she closed the door. She scowled at him.

"Coming from someone who works as a waitress, I know how much even a small tip means. Plus it's good karma, and manners. So yes, you do," she replied as she stood up on the other bed next to his. He looked at her with a blank expression.

"Uh, what're you doing?" He gaped at her. She looked at him normally.

"Testing out the bed of course," Sakura beamed as she jumped up and down on it lightly.

"By jumping on it?" He asked in disbelief. She ignored him and started jumping on it higher and higher while chorusing in giggles. "Sakura! Stop! There are people under us!" Sasuke shouted at her frantically, grabbing her arm.

"Ooooh, that's nice," she mused. He glared at her intensely.

"Get. Down." She pouted, but did as told.

"You're no fun, you know that?" The pinkette griped as she sat with her arms crossed. He didn't bother to reply as he dug several things out of his bag.

After a few minutes Sakura made her way to the bathroom, making several loud comments about how big and nice it was. The Uchiha ignored her because she literally made comments about the beauty of practically everything. It was nothing new, and every time he did comment back it just made her see how shallow he was about most things. He heard her lock the door as she started the water in the shower.

A good while later she finally made her way out in a white robe, using a small towel to dry her long pink hair. Glancing at the time on his computer Sasuke noticed a good 45 minutes had now passed.

"Take you long enough?" He sneered. Sakura blushed.

"Oh hush. I never get to take long showers at my apartment because the heater sucks. So I took my time," she explained in embarrassment. "Plus my hair has gotten too thick and long, it takes forever to wash." She added as she sat down, continuing to dry it with the towel in her hands. She ran her fingers through the body of it. "I have got to cut this off when I get home," she sighed to herself. Sasuke heard her loud and clear.

"No." He declared. _Oops_. He didn't mean to say that out loud. Sakura stared at him.

"Why not?" She asked, pink eyebrows raised.

"With your cowlicks, long hair suits you better, plus you're older now," he spoked with a subtle tint on his cheeks. Inwardly Sakura was smiling and flailing around like a ten year old.

"But it's always in the way," she argued, which was true; regardless of what he thought.

"Then put it up in a bun or something. Or a pony tail. If Itachi can do that every day for like, 15 years, so can you," he spoke to her. She blinked. Sasuke really didn't want her to cut her hair. This made her smile.

"Whatever you say, weirdo."

Sakura pulled out her lap top and they both kept to themselves for roughly another hour, Sasuke getting in the shower about half way in between. Eventually she turned on the flat screen and crawled under the covers of the king sized bed. After Sasuke left the bathroom he turned off the television and started to turn in for the night himself.

"Wait, Sasuke," Sakura started nervously. He had thought she was asleep. "I c-can't fall asleep without the television on."

"Well, I can't fall asleep with it on," he stated coldly, getting into bed. She exhaled, barrying herself beneath the covers.

"Okay, I guess I'll try for tonight." Leaving the room pitch black as he flipped off the lamp.

It took only minutes for the youngest Uchiha to drift to sleep. He was tired from being up since early that morning and the trip to Uzushio had been no walk in the park. Despite this, he wasn't a hard sleeper, no matter how exhausted. The shift of the balance of the mattress was what abruptly awoke him. It creaked slightly as another weight joined him, although a good foot away due to the size of the bed.

"Sakura?" He whispered the name of the only person it could be.

"O-Oh, Sasuke, I thought you were asleep!" She stuttered.

"I _was_," he sighed, "what're you doing?"

"U-Um, w-well," she stammered, "I don't like the dark… and I have a bit of separation anxiety which is why I sleep with the television on… so… this is the only other way to help. If I know I'm next to someone." He sat in silence. "But if that's not okay with you I'll go away!" She added quickly.

"Just lay down, Sakura," he ordered. It wasn't like they hadn't already slept in the same bed together. It was ultimately better than her being sleep deprived tomorrow. If Sasuke remembered correctly, that usually put her in a really foul mood; which was not something he wanted to deal with in the slightest.

A few minutes passed in silence. Sakura shifted her weight around several times trying to get comfortable.

"Hey, Sasuke," she whispered.

"Hm?" He replied with his eyes closed.

"Thank you for coming with me today," she said lowly.

"It's nothing," he answered.

"No, really," she went on, "I can only imagine how you feel about hospitals. So, it means a lot that you came with me, regardless. And got the hotel, and let me use your train card. It means more to me than you will ever know." To this he offered no reply. He wasn't good with things like this; being thanked. Or people being genuine with him. He simply rolled over on his side.

"Thank you for being a good friend, Sasuke."

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**A/N: Alright! There's the fourth chapter! The longest so far! Hope you guys liked it! I'm really trying to build them together as friends before romantically, because that's how true love works… in my opinion anyway. & this chapter was titled forget because of all the memories that were stirred up for both of them. But I started back to college this Monday and oh man is it crazy. Luckily my schedule is flexible, I just have a lot of online work for the classes I'm doing through our state university. Plus I just applied for this position at the airport that I am hoping I'll get! Moral of the story, I am busy but all off you are so amazing that it's encouraging me to keep writing and be inspired. This is at 700+ visits now! And that is amazing in itself! So thanks to all of you that even if you don't review or follow the story, but read it anyway or maybe don't have an account. I do check the traffic graph so thank you all who read! From all over the world! It seriously leaves me speechless. I do allow anonymous reviews so, if you do like what I'm doing, I do appreciate a few kind words or suggestions. Or questions as well. Thank you all so much for the support, it really means the world to me! Love your beautiful faces! **


	5. V - Remember

**A/N: Here's a chapter about why Sasuke and Sakura are the way they are with each other. Shorter than the others, but very, **_**very **_**important. Listened to The River by Manchester Orchestra while writing. One of my favorite songs of all time. The lyrics at the end are from it. Enjoy!**

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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Chapter V

"_The richness of life lies in the memories we have forgotten." _

_- Cesare Pavese_

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_** "And now** onto our next story. Fugaku Uchiha, CEO & member to the confounding family of the Uchiha Corporation, passed away earlier this month after a head on collision on Okinawa. We were told by doctors and accident investigators that he died on impact after being hit by a drunk driver. However his wife of almost 20 years, Mikoto Uchiha, was alive when police arrived at the scene. Twelve days later it has been revealed to us that the doctors at Konoha General pulled the feeding tube as of yesterday morning per the request of her will. Fugaku Uchiha was a very capable company owner who expanded the Uchiha corporation almost double it's size in the span of one single generation, while Mikoto Uchiha was a very loving mother who took care of their family and managed her husband's social agenda. The couple is survived by their youngest son Sasuke of 14 years old and their eldest son Itachi of 18 years old, who will soon be assuming his father's position as the company's head." _

Looking out of the massive window that adorned the wall of their flat he couldn't help but think the city looked much more melancholic and gray than usual. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the constant magnitude of misanthropic situations that had continued to occur every day for almost two weeks now. Whatever the reason, the city below was the personification of somber. A noise from behind him indicated someone entering his home, yet he paid them no mind.

"Shouldn't you be getting to school, Sasuke?" The dull voice of his older brother nagged from the entrance into the living room. Sasuke glanced at him annoyingly, focusing back on the collage of buildings and the pouring rain. Laying his suitcase and coat on the couch, Itachi sighed deeply. "Have you at least decided what you're going to do?" The 14 year old's face remained emotionless.

"What you and the family want me to do. Study abroad and go to university," He answered simply.

"Are you going to resign from the high school today then?" Itachi prodded. To this Sasuke offered no reply. It was an evident yes. Within another moment he pulled himself from the window, grabbing his bag and coat and leaving quickly out the front door.

Walking the hallways of the academy made him want to vomit. There were only two expressions he recieved from people anymore: pity or annoyance. The annoying aspect he could live with; people hadn't ever really cared for him anyway do to his stand offish attitude. It was the glances of sorrow and pity that were killing him. If he had to hear one more apology or one more person claiming that they were there for him he was going to burst. Because they weren't there for them. And no one understood. They were just empty words to fill their own selfish desires.

'_I'm here for you, Sasuke.' _

_'I'm here for you,' _but what did that really mean? What did that entail? Pity. That was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Upon walking into the cemented building Sasuke made an automatic B line for the main office where he would drop himself from the school. He kept his onyx eyes diverted downwards in an attempt to avoid glaring at literally everyone he passed. Ultimately it was inevitable.

"Good morning, Sasuke," a red eyed woman by the name of Kurenai greeted from an auburn desk. He nodded boringly in response. "Your brother called me and explained that you would be leaving to continue your education over in America. So as I'm sure you know there's a good deal of paper work you must do before hand." She went on to explain. He nodded again with a grunt. She handed him a clipboard decorated by a thick packet of papers. Fishing a pen from his bag he quickly began to fill them out

As time passed he grew increasingly agitated. More and more students walked by him and into the office, studying him suspiciously. He was thankful so far it had been neither of _them. _However soon his luck would run out, and sure enough he would run into one or the other. He was trying his best to avoid seeing or talking to either of them. It would make everything easier. He didn't want to have to explain himself to them. Neither of them would get it, their lives being so mundanely perfect. All they would do is get mad and look down on him, especially _her._ Avoiding the situation entirely was the best option for all three of them.

Curtly the 14 year old organized the papers then handed them to Kurenai, the reflection of her glasses gleaming momentarily from the ceiling lights. She skimmed through them quick then nodded.

"You're all set then, Sasuke." He nodded back, turning around on his way. He followed the same routine from his way into the school on his way out; quietly ignoring everyone. After a good minute or so passing he finally came upon the exit doors.

"Sasuke!" A distinctly female voice called from behind. Shit. He careened down the remainder of the hallway. "Sasuke!" She whaled again. The metal door closed behind him as he rushed out into the heavy rain. Quickly he skipped down the steps. "Sasuke!" She was through the doors, very clearly out of breath. He stopped. He couldn't run, and if he ignored her she'd follow.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?! Someone told me you were here without your uniform!" She exclaimed. He didn't want to turn around and face her. He kept his back turned as he stood, a mess of thunder crashing above them.

"I'm leaving," he stated in a low monotone.  
"But you've missed so much already, Sasuke. And it's almost time for midterms," she went on, oblivious to what he meant.  
"No, Sakura, I'm _leaving._" He repeated. A bout of silence ensued. After a moment,

"what do you mean leaving?" She whispered under her breath.

"I mean I'm not coming back, Sakura," he hissed. More quiet. A moment had passed when he heard the sound of her shoes against the gathered puddles on the ground. A force shoved him from behind.

"You're leaving?!" She shouted. Sasuke turned around to look at her. He had to now. Sakura pushed him again, this time in his chest. Her small hands barely caused him to stumbled. "You weren't going to say anything, just like that?!"

"It's better this way," he affirmed, raven locks shadowing his eyes.

"Better for who?!" She yelled. He could tell by her voice she was crying, even when the rain camouflaged it entirely too well. Her short pink hair was matting together as it soaked. "Because it's not better for Naruto, or me! That I can promise!"

"There's nothing for me here," he continued.

"Yes there is!" Sakura interjected, grabbing his arm desperately. "Me and Naruto are here! We're here for you, Sasuke!"

"Stop being so selfish," he snapped, pulling his arm from her grip and causing her to step back. Her eyes widened at his words. _Selfish_? Her bottom lip started to tremble. "A spoiled brat whose most defining talent is crying has no right to assume what's best for me!" He shouted, turning back around. He left her speechless. Sasuke began to walk down the sidewalk in front of the school, meeting with a yellow cab. He glanced at her once more, getting inside and shutting the door behind him. Slowly she sank to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she sobbed. The cab pulled from the curb and they left. Sasuke watching her from the back window until her head of coral hair was no longer visible.

_'I'm going to leave you the first chance I get.'_

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**A/N: So this is a flashback chapter. I wanted you guys to know why they were on such bad terms and why I'm emphasizing building their **_**friendship **_**before anything else. Also why Sasuke felt he had no other option but to leave. Thanks to everyone who reads/follows/reviews this story! It's at 1,500+ hits now & that's pretty amazing! Love all of you! Any questions/criticism are encouraged. I'm still working out things with the plot & future chapter ideas so if you have suggestions I would love those as well. Thanks guys!**


	6. VI - Attract

**A/N: Oh god. I think you guys are going to like this chapter. Much needed fluff. Yes.**

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**I'm going to start answering anonymous reviews on here for every chapter because you guys are awesome: (FEEL FREE TO SKIP)**

_**(these count for all chapters because I don't want to miss anybody.)**_

_**nerd94 – I'm actually working on a way to bring Sai back in, hopefully as soon as possible. Yeah he's mean but I still love his character! Maybe rev up some drama or something.**_

_**rawr – really glad to hear you're enjoying it! The pacing it killing me so it's good to know some of you really do appreciate it.**_

_**A Midsummer – ahhh yay I'm glad you enjoyed that portion because I loved writing it! But I'm stoked that you found this on the tag. You guys keep me inspired. **_

_**Thank you all so much for reviewing!**_

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**I do not claim to own Naruto or any of the characters in this story.**

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By Disappointment Only

"We're all just looking for someone whose demons play well with ours."

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_Chapter VI_

"_The problem with human attraction is not knowing if it will be returned."_

_- Becca Fitzpatrick_

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**_Summer_** hit the city that year like a severely unwelcome tidal wave. One week rain was pouring onto the skyscrapers and sidewalks in what seemed to be an infinite spell. Then July crept around the corner; and before anyone could put away their umbrellas, temperatures sky rocketed and the rain became nothing more than a distant memory. The calendar that day, after a week of a non stop heat wave, landed on July 21st. Sakura found herself hurrying out of the medical building while wiping beads of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

"I seriously thought I was going to melt in there," she sighed to herself, adjusting the back of her skirt that clung to her perspiring thighs. Despite wearing a short, floral print high waisted skirt and thin, light gray tank top the nursing student still felt like she was in a sauna. She was beyond relieved that she was now done with her first term at uni. She could finally go back to her apartment and soak up some much needed air conditioning.

Interrupting her step and train of thought, an abrupt chime from within her tote sounded indicating someone was calling her. Stopping in the middle of sidewalk she took a moment to dig for it. Upon finding it she slid her finger across the screen and answered,

"Hello?"

"I need your help," It was Sasuke's voice sounding uncharacteristically urgent. She held the phone from her ear and double checked the contact for a second. Sasuke rarely called her, let alone sounding like that. Sure enough it was him.

"What?" She asked dumbly.

"I need your help, can you meet me at my flat?" He questioned, his words smashed together frantically.

"Um, yeah... I guess. Is everything okay?" She hesitated, worried by the weird circumstances.

"No. Just get here as fast as you can." Without another word the line went dead. Sakura blinked, her emerald eyes wide as her mind mulled over all the possibilities of what could be wrong. With a quick '_hmph_' the 18 year old stuffed her phone quickly back in her bag and headed towards the metro.

Upon arriving at Sasuke's building she greeted Ryu with a quick 'hello' as always. He proceeded to eye her oddly as she sprinted away to the elevator; all kinds of different worst case scenarios running through her head. After sailing up 45 floors, she bolted into the hallway and down to the door of the Uchiha's flat. She knocked on it quickly as she tried to catch her breath. Not five seconds passed until Sasuke flung open the door so fast he might as well have pulled it off its hinges. Sakura studied him from head to toe trying to assess what was wrong from his appearance. His hair was messy and his face was flushed. Outfit wise he was wearing gray dress pants and a black button up that was only tucked in on his left side. If she didn't know him any better she would have assumed he was drunk. Sasuke remained silent and left the door open upon walking away. Sakura came in suspiciously, looking from left to right for abnormalities. Closing the door carefully behind her she followed.

"What the hell is wrong Sasuke?" She prompted once she was in his room. Meanwhile Sasuke was tucking the other part of his shirt in anxiously, glancing up ever so often to eye himself in the mirror.

"There's a dress hanging up in the bathroom. Put it on," he ordered without looking at her. Sakura frowned at his words.

"Why?" She quipped. Predictably he offered no reply. With her eyebrows knitted she crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not doing jack until you tell me what's going on." She declared. Sasuke exhaled at her statement; leaning against his dresser with support from his arms.

"I've got some... family in town. And I need you to go to dinner with me," he lamented lowly, still refusing to look at her. Sakura raised a brow at this.

"Why do I have to come? You and Itachi always keep your family stuff so private," she remarked. After a moment of clenching his jaw he was finally able to muster the words.

"Because, Sakura; I haven't seen any of them since the first year after the accident. And all they ever do is compare me to where Itachi was when he was my age. The idea of going alone makes me sick, and I figured if you come along it might distract them and make them hold their tongues," Sasuke explained through gritted teeth. In that moment Sakura felt a pang of guilt. She strongly felt that no one should ever be that nervous or scared about seeing their family. But then again... Sasuke's idea of family was much different from her own. In that way she was oddly fortunate. In conclusion, that meant she had to roll with it. She was sure if it came down to it he'd do the same for her. That was what friends were for, _right_?

"How do you know the dress is going to fit me?" She commented suddenly, hands on her hips. Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't know, Itachi's the one who bought it. He has a knack for things like that so I'd honestly be more surprised if it didn't," he answered. She didn't really believe him, and she highly doubted Itachi had an even remote idea of what to buy a woman; let alone her. With an exasperated sigh she left Sasuke's bed room, succumbing to her defeat and heading for the washroom down the hall.

What she found completely negated her previous predictions. Hanging up on the wall where usually a towel would be was an elegant black dress. It was simple, but beautiful. Which was usually Sakura's style of choice when it came to dressing up. The dress was dark black with a mesh, slightly transparent waist panel. The top portion of it was tight with a square neckline; no sleeves but two, half inch thick straps. The bottom part of the dress below the waist band flew out lazily; just enough to add a healthy amount of volume with it's pleats. It was stunning, really. Now it was just a question of it was going to fit her.

Much to Sakura's surprise, it did. Well, for the most part. The mesh waist band fit her mid section like a glove. Then with the skirt portion flowing out it accented her curves and hips just right. Granted the way the band sat in the back it did draw a bit of attention to her very well defined... back side, to put it appropriately. The top part was the only thing she would have issues with. Around her ribs it was fine until the fabric met her chest. Sakura had never had a _huge _chest, but she more self titled it '_full_'. For example: her friend Hinata was _very _well endowed. However Sakura was simply curvy, and her bra size just came in the job description; even if she was still technically petite. The way the square shaped neck line fell and how tight it was slightly squished her breasts in and upwards, resulting in her showing the slightest bit of cleavage; she hated it. She never, _ever_, enjoyed showing off that part of her body. It was ironic because when she was a 16 year old in high school she would have killed to have a body she could show off. Once her 'blooming' went into overdrive, she wanted nothing more than to keep them hidden and decent. Albeit much easier said than done.

Quickly Sakura slipped back on her flats, those of which just happened to be black themselves, thankfully. She proceeded to fix her hair in the mirror. Putting it up in a messy bun prior to getting out of the shower and being up all day made her locks fall passed her shoulders in lazy waves. It created the illusion that her hair had natural beach type curls in it; when in reality it was as flat as a board. Quickly she ran her fingers through it, untangling some of the areas that very much needed it. After her hair was no longer knotted Sakura continued to raid the cabinet above the sink. Almost instantly she came across a can of ridiculously expensive hair spray whose brand name she couldn't pronounce. She was ecstatic that she had found it as she sprayed it in her layers, but was also concerned as to why two full grown _men _had it in their bathroom. The pinkette sighed as she stashed it away. That was a question she'd save for another day.

Walking down the hallway the nursing student peaked into Sasuke's room only to find he was no longer there. She turned back around and sped down the hallway to the living room. Upon exiting the hallway her eyes fell upon not just one, but _two _overtly handsome young men. It took all she had not to drool. Her subconscious went on to rant and rave over how it had to be illegal for a couple to have not just one, but two gorgeous children of that caliber. There had to be a law against that somewhere. Itachi had always been the taller of the two; however, Sasuke had finally caught up as years passed and was now only two inches or so shorter, his stature being slightly more built as well. They were both dressed in suits, Sasuke's gray and Itachi's jet black. Itachi's jacket wasn't buttoned up revealing a black vest and white button up beneath, a red tie tucked into it effortlessly. Sasuke's gray jacket was unbuttoned as well but only his black button up shirt was visible. He lacked a vest and tie unlike his brother, giving him a bit of a more laid back appearance. Regardless, the two of them looked jaw dropping. Sakura had thought for once she actually looked decently attractive. Seeing those two shot down her opinion instantaneously.

Out of reaction she quickly crossed her arms over her chest to conceal herself; cheeks a hint of dark pink as her insecurities began flooding her mind.

"So how's the dress fit, Sakura?" Itachi cooed, smirking the way him and his brother did all too well. This caused her to blush even more as she diverted her emerald eyes to the wooden floor.

"Oh, um, good. Good, it fits well. Thank you Itachi," Sakura bowed politely with her arms still in place.

"Well, come on then! Give us a twirl!" He ordered.

"Oh no, I can't. We don't want to be late," she stammered nervously with a very fake smile.

"We're actually running early, Sakura, so no excuses. Turn around!" He pressed, now grinning like a child on christmas. Sakura sighed deeply, eyes closed. Itachi could be such a pain sometimes, even more so than his younger brother; and that was no easy achievement. Forcibly she turned around, jaw clenched. She didn't twirl so much as step awkwardly in a circle. Itachi frowned. It was the worst 'twirl' he'd ever seen. Granted the dress did look phenomenal. Sasuke's cheeks heated up as he watched her. Even with her awkwardness and embarrassment, she still looked fantastic... dare he say beautiful. It was another reminder of just how much she had changed in the almost four years since he left. She wasn't a little girl anymore; the see through band and tight portion across her torso was reminding him of that even more with every passing second. Even with her hair being a color normally associated with younger girls, nothing could diminish the fact that she had indeed matured in all the right ways. It's length in loose waves somehow made her look older, along with the subtle amount of makeup that was swept over her skin. She looked like she belonged at the restaurant where they would be going; even though the truth couldn't be further from.

"Ah, yes. You look stunning," Itachi smiled with his hands pressed together. Sakura continued to blush, shyly looking down. Sasuke scowled at his older brother, grabbing him by the cuff of his jacket.

"Let's go, pervert. Don't wanna be late just because you were ogling one of my friends," the younger Uchiha growled, meriting a very satisfied look from Itachi. Sakura quickly adjusted her shoes and jogged after them.

The black private car they got into took the three of them to an upper portion of the district. Sakura stared out the window as fancy restaurants and beautifully crafted buildings passed them by; seeming too much like a scenery shot out of some movie. She'd never been to this part of the city before, only having read about it in magazines on occasion. After several minutes swept by the car pulled itself up to a curb and came to a subtle stop. The driver bid them farewell as he opened the back door. Sasuke was the first to get out, brushing down his suit to smooth out any slight wrinkle. Itachi slid out much more smoothly, immediately reaching his hand back into the car to help Sakura. She took his hand with a red face and a muttered, 'thank you'. Sasuke frowned, turning his sights in the other direction.

"Whoa," Sakura gasped as she gazed at the spectacle in front of her. The first word that came to her mind was: gold. Everything about the outside appearance of this restaurant sang gold. Gleaming, golden letters organized into a french phrase she couldn't pronounce. A half circle portion of golden metal that held up those letters but also provided as a shelter over the entrance to the restaurant. Then the building itself, of course, was gold tinted. As she stared at this magical place, she couldn't help but realize that there really was no limit to beautiful things when you were made of money. Of course her thought's were cut short as her breath caught in her throat. One minute she was admiring the building, next she was falling so quickly forward she was bracing her face for impact into the concrete below. Almost as soon as it had happened, an arm around her waist stopped her body in motion. Glancing down she recognized a gray jacket sleeve.

"Jesus, Sakura, watch where you're going," he griped, standing her back up. Glancing down she realized her shoe had caught on one of the corners of the carpet.

"Oh, yeah, sorry Sasuke," she apologized, cheeks pink as she was cloaked in embarrassment. Sasuke said nothing but continued to walk into the rotating doors. Inwardly he groaned. It was going to be a very long night.

"Reservation under Uchiha," Itachi spoke to the hostess. After fumbling around on his computer for a moment the middle aged man stepped out from behind his stand and led them into the restaurant. Sakura followed both Sasuke and Itachi timidly, attempting to look around and appreciate the beauty of the establishment but not wanting to trip again. The hostess led them up a set of stairs to another floor then to the very back portion where several dark haired individuals already sat. It was in this moment that the magnitude of just what they were doing really hit Sakura much like a bat to the head. She was meeting Sasuke and Itachi's immediate family. People who wore shoes and clothing that had greater monetary value than her life. If they were anything like Sasuke or even Itachi she was in for one hell of a trip.

"Sasuke and Itachi, late as always," a woman mused from the opposite side of the table as they took their seats. Her hair was the trademark Uchiha raven black, her eyes a shade of light brown. Her face was marked by similar creases under her eyes like Itachi's, along with subtle crows feet adorning the corners of her eyes; hinting that she was somewhere in her 30's. Although despite her age this woman was undoubtedly gorgeous. To her left sat a man with gray eyes and black hair that was slowly starting to thin; him being incredulously handsome as well.

"Oh Hana, if you know we're always late then why hold us to such standards?" Itachi grinned as he opened a leather encased menu.

"I guess I'm just an optimist," the woman named Hana shook her head in dismay.

"It's okay, I just barely got here before you guys did," a girl at Sakura's right side whispered to her. She inspected the girl to assess if she was of Sasuke's blood or not, Sakura's only experience being that she had never met a social Uchiha. Even with just a quick glance it was obvious. Long dark hair, onyx eyes, porcelain skin and flawless bone structure; yup, she was an Uchiha. A nice Uchiha. Sakura cringed at the oxymoron she had produced. This girl actually looked to be somewhere around her and Sasuke's age. At the very oldest Itachi's. "I'm Yui, by the way. I've heard a lot about you." The girl leaned over once more and spoke quickly, pretending to still be paying attention to her family's bickering. Sakura blinked. What was that supposed to mean, exactly? What had she heard..?

"I wasn't aware you two would be bringing a... _guest._" The man next to Itachi with the woman named Hana on his opposite side spoke. Sasuke sat on his brother's other side then Sakura next to him and Yui. The man pronounced 'guest' like it was some sort of disease. Once more all of the 18 year old's insecurities started to bound around her conscience. She looked over everyone, all of them undoubtedly beautiful. Even the man next to Hana who she assumed was her husband, clearly not of Uchiha blood. Them with their dark eyes and hair and ridiculous bone structure and amazing complexions. Then there was her, with round cheeks, large green eyes and worst of all: bright pink hair. Sakura felt like she had never stood out more in her life.

"She's been a friend to mine and Sasuke for many years," Itachi spoke smoothly.

"I hope I'm not intruding sir. My name's Sakura Haruno," she took this as her window for introduction as she bowed curtly.

"Fitting," Hana rolled her eyes. Her stomach lurched. They hadn't even been at the restaurant ten minutes and the Uchiha family already hated her.

"Sakura, that's Hana, our aunt and my father's only sister," Itachi went on to explain, motioning his hand in her direction. "Next to her is her husband Yoshiro. Then on her other side, the oldest of my father's siblings and our uncle, Jiro. And next to him is his only daughter and our cousin, Yui." Sakura nodded to all of them as Itachi said their names. All of them only stared at her with the exception of Yui.

"So, Sakura, is it?" The man named Jiro started, stirring his drink around with a fork. The coral haired girl nodded nervously. "Where is it that you come from, exactly?" At her side she could feel Sasuke tense up. She had to think about it for a second.

"Um, here, sir," she replied.

"Where is here?" The gray haired man prodded. "Japan? Tokyo? This district? This restaurant?"

"Oh come on Dad," Yui groaned at Sakura's other side, burying her face into her hands.

"N-No, it's fine," Sakura stuttered at first. "I should have elaborated better." She threw on one of her signature fake smiles. "I was born and raised in the Konoha prefecture here in Japan."

"Yes, Uncle, Sasuke and Sakura were classmates for many, many years," Itachi added; attempting to throw the poor girl a bone.

"But you don't look Japanese," Hana observed with a demeaning look, taking a sip of her wine. Sakura forced another grin.

"My parents are both of European and American descent, but my father was born here and my mother's a dual citizen," she went on, accepting a glass of tea as a waiter offered her one.

"But how does one end up with pink hair and such odd bright eyes?" Hana continued to prod. Inwardly Sakura couldn't help but feel like she was getting interrogated.

"Well, I got my eyes from my father, whose shade of hair is a dirty brown that's a dark pink. And my mom was platinum blond so, I guess if you mix those two together you could get pink?" She chuckled, trying to lighten up the mood a bit and maybe get them off of her back.

"I like it. Especially here in Japan all you really see is different variations of dark hair and eyes. I think your characteristics are refreshing," Yui proclaimed with a smile. Sakura genuinely returned the look. At least one of the Uchiha's was nice. Jiro and Hana eyed her seriously for a moment, soon enough turning their attentions else where.

"So, Itachi, how did everything go on your last New York trip?" Hana began. In that moment Sakura felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of her chest, finally allowing her to breathe again.

They placed their orders and most of the talk continued to be about the company. Sakura wasn't the only one quiet, Sasuke resembling something like a dog with a tail between it's legs. Only offering the occasion yes, no, or grunt. It was weird. They had gotten so comfortable around each other the past few months she had almost forgotten what he was like with all of his defenses up. Really she was thankful that those barriers were no longer an issue in their friendship. Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by a tingling on the inside of her calf. Her eyes widened, taking up a good portion of her face. The tingling continued and went more up her leg, reaching the hem of her dress.

Shooting up abruptly, she knocked back her chair and squealed, jumping up and down in attempt to shake whatever was on her off. Initially she assumed a bug, until she looked under the table. She gaped. Below the table, where her legs had been, sat a grinning, black haired child with rosy cheeks and a toy phone in hand. Meanwhile the rest of the guests at the table looked at her like she was crazy.

"Um, are you all aware that there's a _child _under the table?" Sakura asked, taking another step back.

"Oh damn it Sora," Hana sighed, standing up from the table."What happened to going to the kitchen with chef Patterson to watch them cook?" The little boy crawled from Sakura's side of the table to the opposite, then peaked out and stood up.

"It was too hot in there," he whined, crossing his arms. "I wanted to see if I could sneak back out here without you noticing. Then there were new legs I hadn't seen before, and I touched them and they were really soft." The little boy continued, appearing to be around maybe six years old. He was dressed similar to Sasuke and Itachi despite his age. Hana's eyebrows furrowed.

"I thought Daddy and I told you it's not okay to touch stranger's legs," she growled. The boy, Sora, was unaffected by it.

"But she's not a stranger, she came with Sasuke and Itachi," he stated confidently. To this she had no response. With another exhale Hana hissed for him to get back in his chair and sit still. Sakura did the exact same thing, trying to contain how cute she thought this little boy was.

The table sat in silence for several minutes, everyone picking at their expensive dishes and sipping at their over priced wines.

"Hey Miss, you're pretty," Sora spoke suddenly from across her. Her cheeks warmed up, not knowing what to say. "I see why Sasuke brought you to be together." Her face was entirely red.

"Oh n-no, we're just friends," Sakura stuttered, waving her hands in front of her frantically. Sora grinned.

"Oh I know. If you were his girlfriend you wouldn't be here," he replied, smiling from ear to ear. He was so adorable she wanted to melt. Sora was going to be a heart breaker; just like the rest of his family.

"Well, thank you then," she smiled back with a small nod, not really knowing what to think about his revelation. She focused her attention back on her food, taking no time to notice Sasuke trying to hide his furiously blushing cheeks at her side.

After a very slow paced two hours, Sakura at last found herself walking out of the restaurant with a deep sigh. Never had fresh air felt so wonderful. She spun in a circle for a second, looking up at the sky.

"I never thought dinner could be that exhausting," the roseate haired girl announced as she promenaded down the street with Sasuke and Itachi.

"Yeah, now you know why we haven't seen them in two years," he replied, checking his phone for the time. It was roughly nine o'clock.

"You succeeded in diverting their attention from Sasuke though, so thank you for that Sakura," Itachi smiled at her. She nodded.

"Oh, no. I kind of understand what he was dreading now..." she agreed.

The car took the three of them back to the apartment complex in no time. Sakura followed the two in without a second thought; an action that was becoming much too close to second nature. It seemed like she felt more out of place in her own apartment now of days. Flicking off her shoes on to the mat by the door she made a b-line to Sasuke's room, grabbing a glass of water on the way. She grabbed the remote, flicking through the channels. Coming upon a news segment about how this was going to be one of the hottest summers ever recorded; she exhaled deeply. Sure, she was on break now for the next few months; but air conditioning only went so far. Plus she wasn't about to spend all of her time inside. She laid down on Sasuke's bed, changing the channel to a movie that was already halfway over.

After a good ten minutes Sasuke finally emerged, hair wet from a shower and dressed in sweats and one of his hundreds of navy blue shirts. He rubbed his hair with his towel one more time before throwing it in his mostly empty laundry basket.

"You can go if you want," he announced, sitting on the other side of the bed and watching the flat screen.

"Naw, I'll just go when I get home," she replied simply, eyes still on the movie. To this he said nothing. "Hey, Sasuke?" She asked suddenly.

"Hn," he grunted. His favorite method of communication.

"Can we go to the beach this weekend?" His head turned towards her, eyebrows raised.

"The beach...?" He drawled. "Why?"

"The news said it's going to be one of the hottest summers ever..." She began shyly. "And I just figured it'd be a good way to start off our summer." Sasuke looked at her dumbfounded.

"Me? At the beach?" He stated. She nodded, emerald eyes gleaming. Sasuke sighed, laying down and positioning his arms behind his neck. "I'm not really a '_beach_' person, Sakura." He said lowly. Sakura laid down next to him, pouting with her pink eyebrows raised.

"What does that even mean?" She asked with a playful anger. "We live on an archipelago. Being a beach person's kind of in our blood."

"Not mine. You've got that weird European voodoo blood, so don't even compare it," he argued. Sakura laughed at this. His reasoning was entirely idiotic.

Sasuke rolled over on his side so he was no longer facing Sakura who simply continued to stare aimlessly at his textured ceiling.

"Will you at least think about it, Sasuke?" She asked genuinely. For a moment the air rang silent.

"Honestly, Sakura, I'm not a beach person," he repeated, this time more seriously.

"Well, can you at least elaborate?" She prodded. They were getting nowhere with this conversation. Sasuke moved as he attempted to get comfortable; his back still to her.

"I'm too unhappy to go to a beach, or anywhere that public for that matter. Fun like that's just not in the cards for me. It's unreasonable and pretentious," the 19 year old spoke with blunt honesty. Sakura laid next to him, shocked and speechless. Those words were probably the most honest ones he'd ever spoken to her out of the whole span of their friendship. She paused, eyes still focused upward.

"Sasuke, just because you're unhappy doesn't mean you can't laugh at funny things," she said seriously. "Or marvel at beautiful things for that matter. Or even enjoy a happy moment from time to time. You can still do happy things even if you're unhappy."

At first there was silence. Sakura was worried he had fallen asleep as she blinked slowly. After another moment she closed her eyes lightly, thinking about the events of that day and how she would persuade Sasuke to go to the beach; even if she had to drag him there. All of a sudden a strong arm grabbed her at her waist, meriting a high pitched squeak from her throat. However that noise was cut short as a set of lips crashed into her own. Her eyes widened as she squirmed for a moment, completely taken aback by her current predicament. Was this really Sasuke Uchiha on top of her? Was he actually kissing her right now? So suddenly? Out of no where?

Was this really happening right now?

Her mind was racing a hundred miles a minute, her body taking in every sensation her skin would allow. Closing her eyes she placed her hands on his neck, working her dainty hands up to his still dampened hair. Yep; it was definitely Sasuke. His hair style being the only confirmation she needed. What had triggered this? This physical contact? She had never seen Sasuke with a girl, simply assuming he had intimacy issues after going through so much trauma. But no. That was definitely not the case. Well, not now anyway. The hand in her shirt slowly inching it's way to her bra only further denied her previous assumptions. Sasuke Uchiha definitely had no issues with physical contact.

Things were getting much too heated at this point. No matter how much Sakura didn't want to stop physically, she knew morally and mentally she had to. They were friends. Just friends. And friends didn't do this type of stuff, right?

Abruptly she turned her head to the side; him only proceeding to her neck. She moaned slightly, angry that this had to come to and end. It felt all too right but it definitely was not.  
"Sasuke, stop," she gasped. He said nothing and ignored her request. With a sigh she tried to push him off. He only budged slightly, but it was enough to catch his attention and realize she was serious. Sasuke groaned inwardly, rolling over but still remaining at her side. Lazily he laid his head on her chest, still adorned by her dinner outfit. As he caught his breath, the younger Uchiha attempted to mull over what had just happened. Or more so, _why_ it had just happened. He'd had plenty of girls bowing down to and crawling all over him for a majority of his life. It wasn't a foreign occurrence. However what was so weird this time was that he had started it. It was a serious first for him and he didn't know what to make of it; completely confused by the uncomfortable sensation in his stomach.

Sakura remained quiet, not as frantic with her thoughts. Sasuke was physically driven, that was just a fact. That was all it was. An accident if anything. Eventually the 19 year old sat up, leaning over the side of his bed with his face buried in his hands. Sakura sighed, feeling that her prediction was right. Now all Sasuke was was full of regret. In all reality, the coral haired nursing major had no idea what thoughts were circulating in her 'friend's clustered mind.

"Oh god," he gasped lowly. "Oh god. Oh _god_." Sakura sat up.

"Sasuke, it's okay," she said soothingly. "We can just pretend it never happened."

"No. Oh _god_." He repeated louder this time. Standing up he kept his hands on his face. "No, no. This isn't right. No. I can't." Sakura stood up, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Sasuke it's fine, it was just a kiss," she said with a fake smile; while inwardly she was torn that his reaction was so severe. Sasuke began pacing, repeating his previous sentences. She was at a loss of what to do. Let him blow it off, maybe? Pent up emotions were never a good thing anyway.

"Just let it all out," Sakura coaxed, sitting back on the bed with her legs crossed.

"No, you don't want that," Sasuke argued, his face pull of panic. "Oh god, I'm going to be sick."

"You just need to breathe," Sakura commented. He did as she said, taking slower and deeper breaths.

Eventually he started pacing quietly.

"So why is that kiss getting you all bent out of shape?" She asked abruptly.

"It's not that," he denied immediately. "You don't want to know, seriously."

"But I do," she insisted. "Holding things in is what's making you sick." He started to get frantic again.

"Oh god, it's just... something I've never done. Or can't do. Shouldn't do. But I don't know what this is. It has to be it. That's the only logical explanation!" Sasuke exclaimed, index fingers massaging his temples. Sakura blinked, looking at him quizzically. What in god's name was he talking about?

"Explain it to me, Sasuke," she coaxed with a grin. He glanced at her.

"First stop that fake smiling bull shit," he spat at her. She frowned. He found time to insult her even when he was the one having the mental breakdown; typical Sasuke.

"Okay now, spill," she ordered in annoyance. She had never seen him like this, and even with him being a confusing jerk she was still getting increasingly worried. Finally he sat back on his bed on the furthest corner away from her. Sakura rolled her eyes. For being a 'prodigy' he was really immature about some things.

Sasuke gulped so loud she could hear it loud and clear. He hunched over, holding his stomach like he was in serious pain.  
"I think," he started. "I think..." He couldn't stop himself from stammering, "I think... I might maybe, possibly, like you." In a split second the room was coated with a thick, awkward atmosphere. Sakura's jaw had dropped and her eyes were wide. She quickly pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming; nope. This was cold hard reality. Quickly she closed her mouth, turning around the other way so their backs were facing each other. She huddled her legs up to her chest, rapping her arms around them so she resembled a ball.  
"Don't be dumb, Sasuke," she spoke lowly. His words made her heart flutter for a second. However the reality of the situation was that Sasuke had no idea what he was talking about. Just because he was experiencing happy emotions, which for him were so rare, he must have been confusing them with romantic affection. That was all it was.

"Don't criticize me when I'm opening up to you," he spat with very clear frustration. At this Sakura said nothing, ducking her head into her knees. "I like your hair," Sasuke began nervously and suddenly, causing the 18 year old to look back up as she registered his words. "it's different unlike every other person in this chaotic city. I like your thick framed glasses that make you look like your from some low budget 80's movie; mainly because you really don't seem to care." He continued, his voice quivering as he forced out the words. Sakura's mind was a mess. Was Sasuke really flattering her right now? Not once but multiple times...? He couldn't be stepping further out of his stereotype if he tried. "I like how you notice all the beauty in things most people, especially myself, don't pay any mind to. I like how you're so positive about everything, and I like how you've rubbed some of that optimism off on me and anyone that you talk to. I like that you're disorganized and that you almost always show up to class late. I like how you're not afraid to tell people what you think about them, but at the same time you're the furthest thing from rude. I like how you're the only person I can spend more than an hour with and not get annoyed. I like how you call me out on my bullshit, and you don't pity me." He sighed deeply. "I guess when I say I like you, I mean I like those things about you. I've just never really felt that way about someone who wasn't family. And I've definitely never felt so strongly that I actually admitted it. In all honesty it fucking sucks. But I guess take that however you want. At least all my emotional bull shit is out on the table now."

Sakura had to take all she had in herself not to cry, not to let her built up emotions from the passed few years come flooding out. It was her turn to gulp loudly. In ever other situation, she was the one telling Sasuke how she felt, what her feelings were. Now, by some freak accident, the tables had turned. She wasn't even sure she was talking to the same person. What he had said to her, it was heart warming, really. Regardless of their recovered friendship, and her old feelings starting to seep back into her heart, he still knew nothing about her when it came to the big picture. If he did there's no way they would be sitting there at that very moment.

"You're wrong, Sasuke," she said under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear.

"How?" He asked, visibly irritated. She bit her tongue for a moment as she built up the courage.

"I don't see how you can focus on the few good things about me when the things I'm really good at are all terrible," she began, holding her head up from her legs. "For instance, I'm really good at over committing. You've seen that part of me on multiple occasions; especially before you left. I'm good at making messes. My coffee table's littered with used ramen cups and my bedroom floor is decorated by dozens of clothes. Not to mention I leave all of my shoes by the door. I'm good at reading ahead, too. Which sucks when your in class or when you end up spoiling the ending for yourself." Sasuke's back was still to her, but his eyes were wide as he listened. "I'm good at getting too comfy. Which you can see now. We don't even coordinate plans anymore; it just happens. I've slept here more times this week than I have at my own apartment. Oh, and I'm fantastic at hogging the bed. I'm sure you're more than aware of that by now. And I'm the best at spilling drinks. I'm that awkward person at dinner who spills a full drink and has to have the waiter bring them a stack of napkins while everyone's staring and you're awkwardly laughing it off. I'm pretty much a mess of anxiety and feelings and clumsiness and really, you shouldn't like me, because it's bad for your health, that I can guarantee."

At first, Sasuke didn't know what to say. The last few months Sakura had seemed so calm and collected; minus the laptop incident. At work, in class, when they were studying. She was always on par when it came to important things, even if she did slip up on minor details. Just like he was stoic 24/7, showing no emotion with the exception of his two friends and brother. He did have a heart; contrary to popular belief. But sharing feelings meant leaving yourself vulnerable, which was not a state of being he particularly liked. That was another reason he thought of Sakura as strong, because she was open about what was going through her mind, at least to some degree if not completely honest. Even if the backlash was terrible, she was a person who lived not wanting to worry about things that should have been said. In many ways it was what led up to him being so open with her at that exact moment. Never had he been so honest with anyone; especially when it came to his personal feelings. This pink haired nursing student was doing funny things to his brain.

Impulsively Sasuke rolled back onto the bed fully, right by where Sakura sat curled up in a ball. She sat in silence while he traced invisible patterns on her back. After a moment she stood up, walking over to his dresser and pulling a few items of clothing from her designated drawer. Thinking about it she flinched. How had they gotten this close? It was a question that would linger in her mind seemingly forever. Quietly she started to change, Sasuke turning around and watching the television and paying her no mind. Unzipping the dress it dropped to the floor, quickly she jumped into a pair of gray shorts and, of course, a navy blue t-shirt. She slowly laid back down; significantly drained after pouring her heart out. The worst part was that she wasn't sure where they stood, or where they would stand tomorrow, or even in a month. Things had become so uncertain in the span of a half an hour. So many feelings brought to fruition. Fluffing the pillow for a second, Sakura at long last laid her head down with a sigh. Slowly and effortlessly she felt Sasuke's arm at her side, slowly wrapping itself around her. She angled her body slightly so as to fit with his perfectly, falling together like two puzzle pieces. The sensation of his breath on the back of her neck and her body securely fastened with his slowly lulled her into a light sleep. She had no idea what anything was going to be like from this point on.

For the moment she was happy; and that just had to be good enough for now.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I am super proud of this chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Also don't automatically take this as them 'getting together'. They've got a rocky road ahead of them. & I know Sasuke might seem a bit out of character to some of you, but do take into consideration his whole family wasn't massacred & he still has his brother. & for those reasons I feel like he would be a tad nicer and more open when it came to some of the little things. Except for affection for another person (other than family). He clearly has no idea what to do hahaha. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading! This jumped another 1k views since I posted chapter 5 a few days ago. You all are too awesome. Your sweet words keep me going. If you like certain aspects, dislike certain parts, let me know. Just be nice. Thanks lovelies! **


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